Assemble
by The Cursed Shadow
Summary: Barden University is SHIELD's ultimate cover up. The newest Avengers have been brought there to protect the world from its greatest threat yet, but are faced with even greater challenges along the way. Will they be able to save the world and keep their cover as college students in a cappella groups a secret? And when a relationship forms, can they keep each other safe?
1. Assemble

Chloe Barton had been brought into one of the most dangerous lives anyone could ever imagine, but she'd been trained to survive any situation, no matter the danger. Her mother was Natasha Romanoff, better known as Black Widow, and her father was Clint Barton, Hawkeye. Under the parenthood of two master assassins, some might say she turned out better than both of them. Of course, Chloe took after her mother much more than her father. She wasn't quite as interested in archery as she was with stealth and firearms. Not only had Chloe taken after her mother mentally, but she also had the master assassin's flaming locks, practically a signature of the family.

She had been on assignment in the Middle East, trying to recover intel for the government, but after receiving an urgent call from Natasha, Chloe immediately came home. Everything had changed, and though her mother wasn't a very emotional person, the girl could see the pain in her mother's eyes the day she arrived back in their house. Clint was dead. He'd died out on assignment for SHIELD, but Chloe didn't want the rest of the details.

There was something ironic about being brought to work with SHIELD after the recent death of her father, but Chloe didn't want to dwell on it. Like her mother, Chloe had learned to push her emotions to the bottom of her personality. She didn't bother with personal space. The best way to learn about other people was to invade their privacy, in certain situations at least. The assassin rolled her eyes, looking at the buildings in front of her.

"Barden University?" she looked over to her mother, who instead of the usual uniform she wore, was wearing black jeans with a button up shirt. "It's just a cover." Chloe scoffed, looking at the crude brick buildings with contempt. "Do people actually learn here?"

"Unfortunately," Chloe knew her mother wasn't enthusiastic about working her working with SHIELD, but they'd already had the conversation days before. After what happened to Clint Natasha felt Chloe would be safer working in a team with the children of the other Avengers, and luckily, everyone else had agreed. Well, almost everyone. Tony Stark wasn't quite as compliant about the idea, but after a month of negotiation the billionaire finally said yes.

"So this is actually a college?" Chloe had to admit the idea was clever. Having a group of super heroes right under the public's nose. It was the best way to keep a secret. "It is, and the SHIELD base is underground. I'm sure Nick Fury's kid will explain it to you."

"I thought he would've retired sooner," she smiled, and heard her mother laugh. It wasn't something Chloe heard often, but it was definitely great when it happened. "Now we're all retired."

"You're not retired mom, you're just going to go work independently, aren't you?" Chloe had always been worried about her mother. Since the woman was getting older, not that the master assassin would admit, it meant her physical abilities would be lessened.

That was the exact reason the children had been called in the first place. Chloe wasn't fooled by the act of needing more recruits. Their parents were all going off the grid and being people for once, and SHIELD just needed replacements. The girl was neither stupid nor naive, and hoped the other members of her team wouldn't be either.

"Remember what I taught you," Natasha looked into her daughter's blue eyes, and Chloe nodded. "I won't. I'll keep myself safe." Her mother sighed, and the girl raised her eyebrow. "Now it's not just about you, Chloe. You have a team, and you'll need to keep them safe too."

"If they're as strong as everyone says shouldn't they be able to take care of themselves?" Chloe didn't mind having to drag some extra weight, as long as it didn't completely stop the mission in its tracks. Natasha could only laugh at her daughter's philosophy, and how much they were alike. "You'll get used to it. I did."

"Chloe Barton?" A voice came from in front of them, and the two assassins turned to see a very tall brunette in a suit, a very revealing suit. "I'm Stacie Hill, Fury's second in command. You can follow me down to the base. Natasha, since you're retired I can't let you down into the base with us."

"It's not a problem," her mother was very professional, but Chloe could see the discomfort in her eyes. She knew of her mother's overprotective side, and of course it wasn't a big deal for her, but if anyone tried to hurt her while Natasha was around they'd be dead before they could realize what was going on. Her mother turned and pulled her into a hug, not something they commonly shared. "Stay safe, Chloe. I'll keep in touch with you."

"How often?" Every time the master assassin promised to stay in touch it never happened. They would maybe exchange a phone call every six months, but that was it. Chloe often thought it was the cause of her need for attention, but whenever she was on assignment that need for affection disolved into a need to finish the job. "Often enough. Call me later today to give me an update."

As her mother walked away, Chloe couldn't help but feel a longing. They'd barely seen each other for several days, and already the master assassin was leaving her side. She followed Stacie until they heard a voice. "Hey! Wait!" The red head turned, seeing a dark haired man running up to them, hardly out of breath when he reached them. He was incredibly muscular, almost impossibly so.

"Jesse Rogers," Stacie said, and Chloe watched as she eyed the man up and down, obviously sizing him up. "Glad to see you made it on time." She looked over at him, and he smiled. "Nice to meet you... I actually don't know your name."

She smiled. Jesse seemed nice. From what Natasha had told her, the guy was a lot like his father. He was supposedly very chivalrous and loyal, but Chloe had yet to decide that for herself. "Chloe Barton," Jesse's smile only seemed to widen. "Wow, well, your hair's certainly as red as I've been told."

"We'll have time for greetings later, you two," Stacie reminded them, and the red head swore she could see a hint of jealousy in her eyes. "Right now we have to get down to base, Fury's already ticked off that Tony Stark's kid is probably going to be late."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Chloe smiled, not expecting the son of Steve Rogers to be so funny. "Well, he is a sociopath." Jesse shrugged, looking over at her. "We can only hope his kid isn't quite as bad as he is." The red head couldn't help but shake her head. "Let's not assume anything before we meet them. I know your dad and Stark didn't get along, but we're not them."

After Jesse agreed not to be completely judgmental of the billionaire they entered an elevator, Stacie sliding a card into a slot and waiting as the elevator went down. "What, no elevator music?" She smiled at Jesse's remark, watching as the doors opened.

They practically walked into a base more powerful than the pentagon, and all underneath a college campus. The red head looked around, smiling at all the technology around her. It was an assassin's paradise. She could get information on anyone from anywhere, but of course, that wasn't the point of being there. She looked over to Jesse, and could see how impressed he was. "Just follow me to the conference room, I think almost everyone is there waiting for you."

The conference room was almost as impressive as the main building. It wasn't quite as filled with computers and SHIELD members, but it has a screen on the wall that would display what they needed. A skinny man sat next to a blonde woman, and another African American woman sat at the head of the table.

"Chloe Barton and Jesse Rogers, it's about time," the African American woman stood, moving to stand in front of them and shake their hands. "Cynthia Rose Fury, but just call me Fury." Chloe nodded, not bothering to ask how Fury knew their names. SHIELD could have a file on anyone ready within seconds. "Now it seems that all we're waiting for is... Stark. I'm not surprised."

"I don't think any of us were," the blonde said, looking at the two who entered the room. She walked to the red head, and Chloe watched as the other woman looked her over. It was a greeting she was used to receiving and giving, so it didn't bother her. "Aubrey Odinson. You can guess my heritage from that much." They shook hands, and Chloe was very impressed by how strong the blonde's handshake was.

If Chloe had said she hadn't heard of Aubrey it would be a lie, frankly she'd heard of almost everyone she'd be sitting in the room with, everyone except for Tony Stark's kid. No one really knew much about them, and that's the way the Starks wanted it. When the skinny man came over and shook her hand, she smiled at him.

"I'm Benji Banner," he introduced himself, and Chloe smiled. Jesse just laughed, "Remind me not to make you angry, okay?" They had a good laugh about it, and things seemed to be going well. The two women sat next to each other on one side of the table and the men sat on the other. The red head watched Fury look over them, it was like she was trying to assess them just on their appearance and actions in the conference room.

"She's an hour late! How long are we going to keep waiting?" Stacie yelled after twenty minutes, but another voice answered. "Actually, I'm not late, I'm just really early for tomorrow's meeting." Chloe looked up, smiling slightly at the sight in front of her.

A brunette wearing a black leather jacket with jeans and a navy blue shirt underneath stood at the door, black combat boots on her feet. She wore earrings and ear spikes, and those were made even more noticeable by the fact that her hair was pushed behind her ears. Headphones hung from her neck, and her arms were crossed over her chest. The thing Chloe noticed the most was how beautifully dark blue her eyes were. It was like an opposite of her own eyes, which were a very light blue hue.

Before Stacie had a chance to react, the brunette spoke again. "I actually wasn't late. I spent the last two hours in the lab you set up for me. The schematics were awful; I already installed Jarvis and redid the entire thing. Where'd you get you plans for that place, anyway?"

"Your father," Stacie said, trying to at least get several words into the conversation. The girl only rolled her eyes and plopped into the seat next to Chloe. To the red head's amusement the brunette put her feet on the table. "That explains why the place was so terrible."

Fury sighed loudly, silencing the table. "May I introduce you to Rebeca Stark-" "Just Beca. I hate the name Rebeca." Beca was already proving herself to be as sardonic and rude as her father, but Chloe only thought it was very hot. "Can we please just get through this meeting?" It wasn't Jesse who said it, but Aubrey. Looking between the brunette and the blonde, Chloe knew the two weren't going to get along well as the days went on. Frankly, the red head had a feeling Beca wasn't going to get along with much of anyone.

"Thank you Aubrey, but I can handle it from here," Fury nodded, looking across the table. "Now that you're all here we can actually start the meeting." The African American woman sent a glare Beca's way, but it was only met with a smirk from the brunette. "We've brought you here for a reason, and that reason isn't just because your parents retired."

"Really? I thought there was going to be a party for their retirement. This means there's no cake... crap." The entire table could see Beca's sarcasm, and it only responded in smiles from two people: Chloe and Benji. The others were glaring along with Fury at the small brunette, but she didn't seem to care. How much hotter could this girl get?

"You're here to investigate a particular case SHIELD doesn't believe we can handle on our own-" "Is this the part where you get on your knees and beg? Because that's pretty much the only reason I'm here." All eyes were on Beca, and almost everyone had their mouth agape, but Chloe's was tugged into a smile. Somehow Beca made the rude act seem very sexy.

Chloe would see how annoyed Fury was getting with the small brunette, and she had half a mind to tell Beca to shut up, but it would ruin the fun. "An artifact that recently came to Earth."

"It's not Asgardian," Aubrey said, shrugging at the stares she received from everyone. "My father would know if an Asgardian artifact was on earth." Fury nodded respectfully. "We know it's not from Asgard, Aubrey, but that begs the question where is it from."

"You brought us all the way down here just to go look at some rock from another planet and tell you what it is?" Again, and it was not surprising to hear, the comment came from Beca. "That's it?"

"If you'd let me finished maybe you could stop being so disappointed," Chloe could see the pride in Fury's eyes, but it was quickly diminished. "Then by all means, get to the good part already, I'm bored."

"The artifact was stolen before SHIELD could acquire it." Chloe looked over to Beca, knowing she was about to do something drastic, and her instincts were right. The brunette stood, slowly and sarcastically clapping. "This is the brilliance of SHIELD ladies and gentleman. Ever heard the term 'you snooze you lose'?"

As Beca sat down, Chloe moved to whisper in her ear. "You should probably stop." A smirk came in response, and the brunette moved directly next to Chloe's ear, her warm breath spilling out as she spoke. "You won't be saying that in bed tonight."

The assassin's cheeks immediately turned red and she sat back to listen to the rest of the meeting, trying not to let images run through her mind. "We need you to recover the artifact and fight out who took it, and if possible find out what they plan to use it for.

"It will take us some time to actually find the artifact, so in the meantime since none of you will really be taking classes here it would be in the best interest of our cover if you joined a club or-"

"Not going to happen," Beca immediately said, not caring that she had interrupted Fury yet again. "Well, it had better happen, we've pulled a lot of strings to get you women into the Barden Bellas and the men in the Treblemakers."

"The a capella groups?" Chloe asked, receiving a nod from Fury. Frankly, Chloe didn't think it would be that bad. Her mother complimented her singing when she performed as a child, and one thing she had learned from her mother was that the truth was painful. If her mother complimented her it was because she was good. "I hope you're all good singers, but before you leave there is one last thing I need to discuss with you."

Chloe looked over at Beca, who was still annoyed by the fact she was still in the meeting. Taking a risk, the red head put a hand on her knee, and met her dark blue eyes. The brunette sighed, understanding the gesture and remained silent.

"You're all going to be roommates, since we can't risk any of you living with anyone outside SHIELD," Fury said with a pointed glare at Beca. The brunette simply shrugged off the comment. "Aubrey and Stacie will be living together, Benji and Jesse will be living together, and... I'm sorry to do this but Chloe and Beca will be living together."

"I don't think she'll mind," the brunette looked over at her and gave a small wink, only making Chloe smile. "It's fine, Fury, I'll keep her in check." Beca's face only turned into a smirk at the comment as she chuckled under her breath. "Then it's settled, I expect all of you to go to the practices you're assigned to go for the Bellas and the Trebles. Dismissed."

They stood, and almost everyone left the conference room, but Chloe stayed and looked over at the brunette. She stayed sitting in her chair, looking at her black painted nails. "You know, for someone who's not very interested in SHIELD I thought you would've been the first to leave."

"I could say the same about you," Beca stood, though she was shorter than Chloe she could easily make eye contact with her. "Clint died for SHIELD and you suddenly jump in to take his place. That's all we are: replacements."

"We may be replacements but we could very well save the world someday, just like our parents did," Beca scoffed, shaking her head at the comment. "You're doing what everyone's going to do. They're going to compare us to what our parents did, and we're going to be stuck under their shadow unless we do something great enough to finally get out of it, and then they're just going to keep expecting that kind of greatness."

"I see why you're so cynical," Chloe said, smiling slightly and shrugging her shoulders, "but you're not going to make me see things the way you do. I know it's a little hard to believe, considering how much like Tony you are, but I don't have your mind."

"You're right, you don't have my mind, and I don't have yours. Let's keep it that way, I doubt you could build the stuff I do anyway." She knew she should've taken offense at the comment, but the mystery surrounding the brunette only drew her further and further in. "I'm just gonna go finish my lab and I'll be at our dorm to set up the rest of my stuff. Nice meeting you Chloe."

The brunette was about to walk by, but before she completely moved past Chloe she stopped to whisper in her ear. "We're going to be seeing a lot of each other, let's make it as... pleasurable as possible."

**A/N: So, I got the idea for this story from amazing graphics by Dubcliq on tumblr, yes I realize I changed things a little bit, but I needed to do it for plot. Also, I'll be updating this story three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Rather than being highly unpredictable like my other stories, now you'll know when I'm going to update. This is going to be a long story, so I'm putting all my others on hiatus as of now. I've got a lot planned for this story and I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you think, and happy reading!**


	2. Stranger Things Have Happened

Chloe had already moved all of her things into the small dorm room. Unfortunately the bed was much smaller than she expected. Since they were undercover Fury didn't want them receiving any more special treatment than the others. She definitely didn't want to imagine Beca's reaction on walking into the dorm room and seeing the miniscule sofa bed that she was to sleep in. Considering the brunette was already a multibillionaire Chloe had good reason to assume the brunette wouldn't find it adequate.

Her phone rang, pulling the red head from her thoughts. After seeing the caller I.D. she quickly answered, a smile on her face. "Hey, Mom." Hearing her mother's voice was like a dream come true, especially so soon after they'd seen each other. "How was the meeting?" Getting straight to the point, at least some things hadn't changed.

"It was fine, Beca Stark was late, though," Natasha laughed, and Chloe couldn't help but laugh with her. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me. How was the rest of the team?" Chloe shrugged, leaning back against the couch. "They were great, but I'm going to have to share a room with Beca."

"You don't sound too sad about it," Natasha replied, making the girl blush. "Well, I- um..." "I've heard she's very charismatic, watch out for her." She raised her eyebrow, looking at the wall. "Do you mean from a team standpoint or as a friend?" "Both, look I have to go, take care of your team, Chloe."

"I will, I love-" the line went dead, and Chloe couldn't help the sigh escaping her lips. Natasha rarely used the word love, and though Chloe was her daughter, the girl had only heard the master assassin say it several times.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the click of the door opening. The brunette walked into the door, two bags slung over her shoulders. Immediately Beca made a beeline for the desk beside her sofa bed, and surprisingly didn't make any comment on the size of the bed. The billionaire began setting up her laptop as well as equipment that strangely didn't appear to be built by Stark Industries.

The red head stood, and managed to peer over Beca's shoulder. She wasn't specifically trying to be stealthy about it, but when the brunette turned around Chloe jumped and sat back down on her couch. "Can I help you with something?" Beca asked, raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms over her chest. "I was just looking at your equipment." She smiled, shaking her head. "Well, you can tell it wasn't made by the great Stark industries."

She watched Chloe laugh, and couldn't help the thought of how beautiful the red head was when she smiled. "Yeah, there's no Stark label on it, unlike every other product I've seen." The brunette shrugged her shoulders, going back to setting up her equipment, but not ignoring the assassin. "That's because Stark Industries didn't make this. I did." Beca didn't have to turn to notice Chloe's presence beside her. "You made this?"

"With my bare hands," she smirked, but Chloe seemed thoroughly impressed. "I don't usually show this to people." "Why not?" was the immediate response, and exactly the response the brunette expected. "I'm a billionaire with an IQ that most people would dream of and I was taught by one of the smartest men in the world and what do I do in my free time? I make mixes and hope to get somewhere in the music industry." She scoffed, shaking her head and looking into Chloe's eyes. "It's not exactly good for publicity, so I've been told."

"You want to make music?" Beca nodded, clearing her throat and stopping herself from revealing any other personal information. She'd barely told her father about wanting to go into music, and now she'd already confessed to Natasha Barton's kid. Well, if Chloe was as much of an assassin as Black Widow, her secret was safe. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Mom supported me on it; Tony always said I'd be going into the family business. I guess he was right."

She quickly went back to setting up her DJing equipment and ignoring that gentle hand Chloe put on her shoulder. "I haven't heard much about Pepper Potts in several years. What happened to her?" Beca sighed and stopped messing with her equipment, turning to face Chloe with a small glare in her eyes. "She left." The red head put a hand over her mouth, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Beca wasn't going to dignify that with a response, so she went back to finish her equipment. It had touched a nerve, but Beca wasn't about to explain why or give anyone the satisfaction of knowing it still hurt whenever she thought about her mother. After completing the finishing touches on the computer the brunette walked to the air conditioning controller in the dorm, where most of the wiring was in the wall, and carefully unscrewed it from the wall.

"What are you doing?" she heard Chloe ask from behind her, but didn't turn around. Concentrating on what she was doing, Beca didn't realize how much time had passed until she finished screwing the air conditioning control back into the wall. She looked at the clock and saw 1 A.M.. Not that it mattered, but the brunette did need to get some sleep. After pressing a button on her computer her eyes scanned the room, very proud of herself.

"You awake Jarvis?" Beca asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Loud and clear, Miss." The computer voice answered, and the girl couldn't help but smile at Chloe's surprise. "I see your roommate is Miss Barton, a pleasure to meet you." The red head walked over and looked around the room, seemingly impressed. "So that's what you were doing with those wires. Where's the voice coming from?"

"The speakers on my desk," Beca pointed to the large speakers, "they're not hooked up to my computer, but to the wiring in the wall. So just because my computer dies, doesn't mean that Jarvis won't be in the room." "I have the best alarm system in the world, Miss Barton, your room will remain secure while you are away."

Jarvis had always been Beca's only friend. Of course, he was a computer, but he had personality. On occasion Jarvis would make a snide remark or two, and Beca could definitely respect that. There were two places Beca learned to be sarcastic. The first and most obvious reason was her father, but the second was Jarvis, but she never really told people that.

"You're not going to talk while we sleep, are you?" Beca smiled at the assassin's question. For someone who was constantly on missions and a master of hand-to-hand combat she certainly didn't know much about technology. "No, ma'am, unless someone is attempting to break into your dorm room I will be quieter than a mouse."

"Well, if you don't mind, Jarvis, I think the two of us would like to get some sleep." "Of course, Beca, after all, you have Bellas practice tomorrow." The brunette groaned at the thought. Singing a cappella was the last thing she wanted to do, in fact, she wasn't sure why she was doing it in the first place. Yes, Fury had ordered them to, but that didn't mean she had to show up.

Unfortunately, her father's reputation followed her even into SHIELD, and the girl knew that if she didn't do anything Fury told her then she could possibly be kicked out. It was the last thing she wanted to do, especially since she would be sharing a room with Chloe. Maybe, just maybe, a cappella wouldn't be as lame as she thought.

"Beca, are you going to wash up before bed?" The technological butler was always doing that, making sure she did what she was 'supposed to', even while she was nineteen. "Jarvis, I don't need you to be my parent, I'll take a shower in the morning."

"Very well, I hope you have a full rest," and with his departing statement Jarvis was silent, much to Beca's delight. "Beca, before you go to sleep, can I ask you something?" With a sigh, the brunette nodded her head, sitting on her sofa bed. "I know you don't want to join the Bellas, but why?"

The billionaire scoffed, laughing softly as she shook her head. "I don't sing. I make mixes. Singing was never really my thing." Chloe nodded her head, simply taking in the words before lying down on the sofa bed. Beca finally lied back, turning off the lamp on the desk next to her and falling into a peaceful slumber.

Beca walked into the shower room, seeing the stalls on either side. She chose one in the middle, carefully closing the curtain behind her. Luckily, this early in the morning no one was there, so she could be there until she was done. Lyrics of David Guetta's Titanium flowed from her lips, and her voice was beautiful as always. Her mother had always told her she had an amazing talent for singing, but Beca never took the words to heart. She'd taken after her father and gotten his mind, but in her opinion, her mind was much better than Tony's.

"_Bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away, fire away_," she sang, turning on the hot water and letting it spill down her back. The heat was relaxing, and seeing as she was probably going to have to wear her suit soon, the warmth relaxed her muscles. Still singing, she didn't notice the blue eyes on her. "You can sing!"

Swiftly turning around, she saw Chloe, completely naked and standing in her shower stall. "Dude!" the brunette yelled, pulling the curtain closed only to have Chloe force it open again. "How high does your belt go?" Beca could only raise her eyebrow, shaking her head. "My what?" Chloe's arm reached beside her and turned off the water. "Oh my God." She was a billionaire and after only two days of knowing Chloe she was already seeing her naked.

"You said you couldn't, but you can! It's going to be amazing for the Bellas!" Obviously the assassin had no regard for boundaries or personal space, something Beca was going to have to get used to. "I can't concentrate on anything you're saying until you cover your junk." Her arms were crossed over her chest, and the brunette's cheeks were growing more and more red the longer Chloe was in her shower stall.

"Think about it! It could be a lot more fun than you think!" Chloe was just a little ball of enthusiasm, yet another thing the brunette had to get used to in the days to come. "You were singing Titanium, right?" Beca raised her eyebrow, certainly not expecting this response. "You know David Guetta?" At this, the billionaire received an eye roll. "Have I been living under a rock? Yeah. That song is my jam... my la dy jam."

How was Chloe being so personal? It was nothing Beca expected her second day at Barden to be like, and all she could do was keep blushing. Trying to keep her privacy, the brunette faced the wall, looking over her shoulder to see Chloe's reactions. "That's nice," she muttered, willing the conversation to end. "It is. That song really builds." Chloe gave her a wink, and Beca's awkward smile only got wider. "Gross."

"Can you sing it for me?" Was she seriously asking that? What in the world went through the red head's mind? "Dude, no! Get out!" She heard Chloe's scoff, "Not for that reason. I'm not leaving here until you sing, so..." Beca sighed, and looked back at Chloe. The assassin only sighed, becoming interested with her nails. Obviously she was very comfortable where she was. She turned around, much to her discomfort, and still had her arms tightly crossed over her chest.

"_I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away, fire away_," as she sang, Chloe joined in to harmonize, and Beca couldn't deny how beautiful their voices sounded together. The acoustics in the stall were much better than the brunette would have originally thought, and it only increased the allure. "_Shoot me down, but I won't fall, I am Titanium_."

Without thinking, her arms had become much more relaxed, not that she hadn't stopped covering herself, but somehow Chloe made her feel comfortable. When she felt her eyes wandering Beca quickly looked away, but the red head only smiled. "Yeah, I'm pretty confident about... all this." The brunette nodded, smiling slightly. "You should be."

Chloe reached out of the stall and handed Beca her towel, which Beca gladly took, except something was still bothering her. "I still need to shower," she told the red head, who, for the first time since barging in on her shower, blushed slightly. "See you back at our dorm, then?" The billionaire nodded, trying to get Chloe out of her shower.

As the door to the shower stall room finally closed Beca let out a sigh of relief and turned on the hot water once again. Trying to make sense of what had just happened, the brunette closed her eyes and let the warm water slide down her back. It didn't seem to help, because even when she stepped out of the shower and put her robe on she was just as confused as when Chloe left.

How did that one moment, that one time someone decided to barge in on her shower, change her life? No one had done that before, and no one besides Pepper had ever cared for her singing voice. Beca couldn't help the smile as she walked back to her dorm. Opening the door, she saw Chloe sitting on her own couch and using her laptop.

"I didn't think you'd take so long," the red head noted, looking away from her computer screen. Beca just smirked, shrugging her shoulders. "I would've been back sooner, but a red head decided to barge into my shower." Chloe smirked in return, and though she wouldn't admit it, the assassin's smirk was very attractive. "I wonder who that could've been."

The brunette simply smiled, turning her back to Chloe and going into the corner to change, making sure Chloe couldn't see anything interesting. She adorned a usual jeans, shirt, and leather jacket combination with her favorite black combat boots. While turning around the brunette hung her headphones around her neck and looked over to the red head, watching Chloe's blue eyes wander her body. "You look nice."

"I agree with Miss Barton, you look particularly stunning this morning," Beca smirked, clearing her throat and putting on her best British accent. "You're looking rather lovely yourself this morning, Jarvis." There was a moment of silence before he replied. "Don't try to impersonate me, Beca, your accent just isn't as good as mine."

Chloe walked to her side, smiling as they stood beside each other. "You ready?" Beca only nodded, walking out the door. "Don't forget to turn on the alarm, Jarvis. I don't want anyone but Chloe and I coming in here." "Don't worry, Beca, I have everything under control. Do have a good time at Bellas practice."

Rolling her eyes as she left, Beca closed the door and locked it behind them. When they walked out of the dorm room, the brunette couldn't help but notice the staring faces. "I knew this was a bad idea," she muttered, but apparently Chloe heard.

"Why is this a bad idea?" the red head asked, raising her eyebrow. All Beca could do was sigh and shake her head, not meeting the assassin's eyes because she was too busy counting how many people were staring at her. "People know who I am, it's only going to bring attention to us later on." When Chloe laughed, Beca immediately turned her head, surprised by her reaction. "Beca, you haven't been in television since before you were a teenager, your father made sure of that. I think you're just looking for an excuse to get out of Bellas practice."

She smirked, winking at Chloe. "Well, if I got out of practice that would mean I'd get some alone time with you." Chloe laughed, and for a reason Beca could never describe, the red head linked their arms and pulled herself closer to the brunette. Beca couldn't help but tense at the action, her gaze moving from their arms to Chloe's eyes. Seeing the red head's smile, her muscles relaxed and they kept walking. "Didn't we have enough alone time in the shower this morning, Beca? You're pretty needy if you're asking for more than that."

"Honey, you have no idea."


	3. Practice

Walking into Bellas practice was probably one of the most horrible things Beca did in her entire life. Aubrey Odinson was already there, and considering how well Tony and Thor had gotten along, Beca suspected they weren't going to be 'BFFs'. Chloe, on the other hand, ran up to Aubrey and pulled the blonde in for a tight hug. Beca smirked at the surprise on the blonde's face and walked over to the two.

"Nice to see you Aubrey," of course, it wasn't like the brunette wasn't going to at least try to be friendly. Besides, things were going to be pretty awful if Aubrey was on her back all the time, so why not make things a little fun. "Stark."

The tall blonde called another girl over, but this girl was very different. She was incredibly large, not that Beca was being judgmental, and had very similar hair to Aubrey's. "Chloe, Beca, this is my sister Amy."

"Actually, it's Fat Amy," the other blonde said and her Aussie accent was very clear. She crossed her arms over her chest. The brunette looked at Chloe, who raised her brow. "You call yourself Fat Amy?"

Before Amy could get a word in, Aubrey interrupted her. "You don't want to know why, her language is vulgar." Things couldn't get any worse. Beca knew right then that she and Aubrey weren't going to get along, and her resolve to be friendly completely shattered. If this blonde thought she could just act high and mighty and everyone else would listen, she had another thing coming.

"Excuse me for a second," the brunette walked into the corner, clenching her hands into fists and sighing. A hand perched itself on her shoulder, and as she turned Beca stared into the blue eyes of the assassin. "Are you okay? You look like you want to punch Aubrey, which probably wouldn't be a good idea." Beca smiled, shaking her head. "Are you always going to be the voice of reason whenever I want to do something?"

"Pretty much," Chloe smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess it's why they picked me to be your roommate. They knew I could handle you." The brunette laughed, "You haven't seen anything yet, Barton." The red head simply shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the chairs waiting for them. Beca followed close behind, her eyes wandering, but as soon as Chloe looked back at her the brunette met her gaze, nodding politely.

She sat next to Chloe, seeing as Aubrey stood at the front of the room with another girl. Beca didn't quite know who the other girl was, but she was soon to find out. "Okay everyone," the other woman spoke, standing next to Aubrey who had a smile on her face. "Since it's our first Bellas practice we'll all just be taking a look at the set list. Aubrey, one of our new Bellas, got here a few weeks ago and we went over the set list together."

Beca couldn't help the eye roll in response to that. When Aubrey sent a glare her way, the brunette didn't care. If Aubrey was in charge of the songs they were going to be singing then it was going to be a long year. At least she still had her DJing equipment back in the dorm room.

Music was really the only way she had to escape the reality of her world. The fact that her father was a genius and everyone expected her to be just as smart as him, and the fact that her mother was gone. There was nothing music couldn't fix, and when she found herself getting lost in a mix that was the moment she loved the most. Music would fill her ears, and as the bass pounded through her headphones Beca would swear her heart beat along with it. Her head would nod to the music, and only when the mix was absolutely perfect would she pull the headphones away from her ears and sleep.

Though, as her thoughts were pulled away from her music she noticed Aubrey handing packets of paper to everyone on the end of the rows. Considering there were only two rows of girls sitting there, Beca didn't see how they were going to win anything. Chloe handed her a packet, a stare in her eyes that practically ordered Beca to be nice. The billionaire passed the rest of the packets to a girl beside her before looking at the sheet.

There were two papers in the packet, and there was a list of all the songs the Bellas had ever performed. Beca raised her eyebrow, the songs were horrible and out of date. "There's nothing from this century on here," she mused, but didn't realize her voice was going to be that loud. Aubrey's eyes met her own, and the blonde shrugged. "That's because the Bellas don't stray from tradition." The woman standing beside Aubrey smiled at her, and Beca could only role her eyes. If this was Aubrey's take on power, then she was definitely going to be at the bottom of Bellas society.

"Practice," the other woman took Aubrey's place in speaking, "will be every day for two hours and you will add your own cardio." Beca's face immediately fell at the word. "Why cardio?" she asked, raising her eyebrow and giving the two an expression that said 'are you kidding me'? Looking over to her right, she saw Aubrey's sister shake her head. "Yeah, no, don't put me down for cardio."

"Moving on!" Aubrey interrupted the two, sending them each yet another glare as she moved to the white board. "Now, this is how we will become champions." The white board was flipped over, revealing a massive diagram of what to do and what not to do, not that the brunette actually planned to follow any of the rules. "We'll start out with some vocal warm ups, arpeggios and-"

"Yeah, I think you said spaghettios and I'm starving, when's lunch?" Beca looked up, only to see Stacie sitting in the front row. She smirked at Aubrey's frustration. "Arpeggios, Stacie." The taller Bella mumbled something, but then Aubrey's sister spoke again. "Yeah, but when is lunch."

"Odin help me," the billionaire couldn't help but snicker at Aubrey. It looked like she wasn't the only one going to give the blonde a hard time, and if Fat Amy was as any fun as she was proving to be than being a Bella might not have been the worse thing in the world. The other woman, whose name was apparently Ashley, according to the whispers of other girls in the back row, spoke again.

"There is one more thing we need to talk about before we get into vocal practice. Since some of our Bellas weren't here for initiation night we do need to let you know on our biggest rule." Ashely walked to the front center of the rows, Beca knew it was so her eyes could be on everyone. Apparently the woman was going to try and assess their reactions.

"You can fool around with anyone you want, just not a Treble," Beca at least had the good sense to know a 'Treble' was one of Barden's other a capella groups the 'Treblemakers'. It wasn't the greatest name she'd ever heard, but it wasn't the worst either.

"That's not going to be easy," Stacie replied, making a triangle with her hands and pointing down at her waist. "He's a hunter." Beca smiled, stifling her laughter as much as she could. The billionaire leaned forward in her seat, trying to get a better look at Stacie's face. "You call it a dude?" Stacie's only response was to look back at Beca and wink. Yet as Aubrey started talking, the tall brunette's smirk quickly faded.

"Stacie, the Trebles don't respect us, and if we let them penetrate us we are giving them our power," Beca watched Stacie cross her legs more tightly, like she was guarding something. "Not a good enough reason to use the word 'penetrate'," Fat Amy said, and Beca laughed softly. As she received stares from other Bellas, and a seeming death glare from Aubrey, Beca pretended to cough. Chloe patted her back, and for a moment Beca thought she was simply helping her stay out of trouble, but as she looked up she saw the true concern in the assassin's eyes. How much did Chloe really care about her?

Four hours later and Bellas practice was finally dismissed. They'd done vocal warm ups, cardio, although Fat Amy did what she liked to call 'horizontal running' in the seats of the auditorium. Then they'd learned how to walk in heels. Beca couldn't help a small smile as she remembered how Chloe had to help Stacie learn how to dance without feeling herself. Then they'd done cardio and finally when the group was exhausted and showing no signs of getting any better at the dance routine Aubrey finally called it quits.

"Thank God, I asked to go to the bathroom three hours ago," Beca barely heard the voice, but as she looked over she noticed it came from the small Asian girl. Her name was Lilly, according to the other Bellas, and she was quieter than what the gossip said. "Wait a minute," came Fat Amy's voice from beside her. "Did we just learn the dance moves from last year's finals?"

Aubrey ignored her sister, handing out more sheets of paper. "Okay everyone, please pick up a performance sheet. We have a showing next week at SBT." All the other Bellas seemed excited, but Beca couldn't seem to get her mind off the fact that Aubrey had said 'showing' rather than 'gig'. She was about to walk out when she heard the blonde's voice behind her. "Beca, a word." The brunette looked to Chloe, who seemed to be waiting for her. The red head left, but as Beca walked over to Aubrey she knew it wouldn't be long before she saw Chloe again.

The billionaire pushed some of her brown locks behind her ear as she walked up to Aubrey. She may have been shorter than the blonde, but her attitude was definitely helpful in situations like that. "You do realize you're going to have to take out those ear monstrosities when we perform?" Beca's hand didn't even go to her ear to try and cover her jewelry. Her ear spikes were part of her personality, and if she was going to take them out for anyone it definitely wasn't going to be Aubrey, but it wasn't like she was going to be that outright about it.

"You really don't like me, do you," it wasn't really a statement, because Beca already knew the answer. The blonde shook her head, taking in a sharp breath. "I don't like your attitude." She couldn't help the scoff leaving her lips. "You don't even know me."

"I know you have a toner for Jesse Rogers," Beca's eyes widened. A what? What on earth was the blonde going on about? "A what?" she asked, hoping the blonde would explain, which she did. "A toner... a musical boner. I saw it at the conference, it's distracting."

That earned a roll of Beca's eyes, at this point she didn't care if she annoyed Aubrey, Aubrey annoyed her. First she had to come to the stupid practices and then it turned out Aubrey was in charge. Next she's being told she has to change what she wears. It definitely wasn't happening. "Yeah, that's not a thing, and you're not the boss of me." Beca started walking away, turning her back on Aubrey.

"I can see your toner through those jeans!" the blonde's voice came from behind her, and before the billionaire could even have any hesitation of being rude, she turned back to Aubrey while she walked backwards. "That's my dick!" She smirked, and immediately walked out of the building. She was irritated, and more importantly, angry. Who was Aubrey to tell her who to be? No one could tell her what and what not to do, she'd had enough of it from her father.

Though, Tony wasn't quite as subtle about it as some people were. If her father didn't like something, he was going to say it was stupid. Pepper would usually have been there to stop him from doing it, but since she was gone, it didn't happen anymore. It hadn't happened since she was ten, and Beca had grown accustomed to the constant degrading of her work. That had only given her more motivation to work harder, and do even better than her father, which she was doing a fairly good job at so far.

"Hey!" a voice came from behind her. Beca had half a mind to yell at them to leave her alone, but as she turned to see a red head of hair, she smiled. "You left pretty quickly, I actually had to keep up with you. I called you a few times but it didn't look like you heard me." Beca blushed, shaking her head slightly.

"I was thinking," she replied, walking beside Chloe once again. "That practice was inhumane. Seriously, four hours of pure torture. I don't know how you got through it, especially with Stacie being the way she was." As Chloe laughed, she couldn't help the smile that seemed to be erupting on her own face. "Yeah, well, there's been worse, especially with the kind of work I do."

"You've been brought into the family business too, huh?" Beca asked, and both women's faces became more serious, but at least Chloe's still had a remnant of a smile. "Yeah, well, my dad spoke against it, but after a while it just worked out. I would usually go with my dad on assignment, but after a while I figured out how to do things on my own, besides, I was more like my mom anyway. We always said we didn't need a team to take care of us as long as we had each other.

"Maybe that's why she finally said yes to putting me into the Avengers Initiative. Dad died, and there was one less person to protect me. I know she would send my dad after me, making sure I was safe while I was on assignment. I told her to stop sending him after a while, but my mom's over protective, so Dad and I would manage to see each other sometimes. I saw him more than I saw her."

Beca nodded, listening to the story and thinking about how different their lives really were. She had been born into a house of wealth, not to mention her mind was better than people could ever dream of. Though people thought it, the brunette wasn't given everything she wanted. If she wanted a video game system she had to build her own, and when she wanted her first car Tony made her build one.

Of course, it wasn't the worst thing in the world. After all, the car had turned out to be a very good looking car. Tony even said he was impressed with her craftsman ship when she was done, but that was one of the few compliments she'd ever gotten from her father. He was always busy with Stark Industries, and ever since Pepper left their lives, Tony had less time for Beca than he ever did before.

"So what about you?" Chloe asked, pulling the brunette from her thoughts. "What was your life like growing up?" Honestly, the billionaire didn't have much of an idea how to answer that. She'd never been asked the question before. Frankly, Beca hadn't ever been to a public school before.

"Well, I've never been to a public school. Tony always home schooled me himself, so I was pretty much learning college math when I was eight years old. Contrary to what people believe, I wasn't handed everything growing up. I actually had to build the things I wanted. Most parents will just go by their kids gaming systems and TVs, but Tony always had me build everything myself.

"I had a little help, but it was only Jarvis. Tony didn't help me at all. The only thing he did was assess my work when I was done with it, and even if I was really proud, he would always give his honest opinion. It helped, and if you ever tell him I said this I will deny it, but his tough criticism helped. Though, it might've been nice to hear a 'good job' from him once."

As she stopped speaking she looked over at Chloe, who had an impressed yet puzzled look in her eyes. The brunette tried to decipher it, but she'd always done better with math than she had psychology. Not to say she was awful at telling what people were feeling, but Chloe was a complete mystery to her.

"Why do you call him Tony?" Beca only raised her eyebrow as she met the red head's blue eyes. "I call my dad by dad, but you only call him Tony." Her head turned to be straight ahead, and her eyes glanced to the ground. What was she supposed to say? Could she really tell Chloe the truth? No, that wasn't about to happen. She'd made that promise to herself years ago and she wasn't going to break it now.

"It's just what I call him," she shrugged, trying to brush it off as an everyday topic. "Tony's always been more of a teacher to me than anything, and he always said not to call him dad because it made him feel old." Looking back on it, Beca figured it was a pretty narcissistic thing of him to do, but it wasn't like she was going to complain. "Do you get along?"

"Why do you have so many questions about my personal life?" Beca retorted, trying to get the topic away from her. Of course she knew the assassin would know what she was doing, but Chloe didn't push. They simply walked back to their dorm room, and as soon as they arrived Beca sat at her desk, putting her head phones around her ears.

Music consumed her, and she didn't stop it. The bass filled her ears and her heard, and no matter how many times Chloe may or may not have said her name the brunette didn't care. No more questions about her personal life, it wasn't something she wanted to delve into, ever. They would get to know each other, but on a less personal basis. As night came around the two just stayed in the dorm room, and when Beca finally took the head phones from her ears and set them on the desk the time said 2 A.M.

With a sigh the brunette plopped onto her sofa bed, pulling the thin blanket over her small frame. "Good night, Beca," she heard from the other bed, and her eyes met the red head's before they closed. "Night, Chloe." Somehow the red head managed not to hold a grudge, and not to be mad at her for being so closed off. She understood, and it was exactly what Beca needed.


	4. Awakening

Weeks passed until they were called for another SHIELD conference, and frankly Chloe was glad for it. Beca was right, Bellas practices were not as fun as she wanted them to be. She woke in the morning to the sound of her phone ringing, and quickly answered it. It wasn't as if she wanted to, but the assassin knew the consequences of not doing something as simple as answering a phone call.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice still groggy from sleep and her mind still in a haze. "Barton, it's Fury, we need you and Stark down in the conference room ASAP. So get down here." The line went dead, and Chloe knew it was better to simply get up and do what Fury wanted than to disobey, although, getting Beca out of bed could possibly turn into a problem. She quickly got out of bed, pushing the blanket to the edge of her bed. Sitting up was not as easy as the red head wanted it to be, and it definitely wasn't fun.

After a few seconds of pacing and shaking her head, Chloe managed to wake herself up. Looking at the clock, it was only 6:30 AM, and she had no idea of the amount of sleep Beca managed to get. Knowing the brunette, she probably didn't go to bed before 2 AM. Of course, Chloe knew it would be wrong to disobey Fury's orders, but before actually waking the billionaire Chloe took a look at her computer.

Beca would never let her on the laptop when she was awake, so the assassin had to resort to drastic measures. Looking at the recent save of a mix the brunette made, the last known save was at 2:30 AM the night before. If Chloe woke her it would mean she wouldn't even have four hours of sleep under her belt. With a sigh, the red head shut the lid to the laptop and looked over to the sleeping girl.

Her blanket was pooled at her feet, but Beca was curled up. Looking closely, Chloe could see the tiny shivers running through her spine. In that moment Beca looked smaller than she already was, and the red head assumed that was very hard to do. What she was about to do was not a good idea, but having four hours of sleep was ridiculous. When she was on assignment Chloe always made sure she had at least six hours of sleep per night.

Carefully, she grabbed the blanket at Beca's feet and managed to drape it over the girl, smiling as she did. Before going back to her own bed, the red head looked at Beca's face, but didn't see the peace she was expecting. The brunette's expression was contorted with pain and... was that a tear falling down her cheek?

Not even considering the possible consequences, Chloe managed to maneuver herself underneath the blanket and lie next to the girl. In this state she wasn't Rebeca Stark, eccentric billionaire with an amazing future ahead of her, and she wasn't an Avenger. This was the Beca who didn't have sarcasm and good looks to guard herself. It was as vulnerable as she could possibly be, and to see her this way would be a rare event, but Chloe appreciated the moment.

Taking a risk, Chloe wrapped her arm around Beca's middle. The brunette stirred, but she didn't wake. Instead, Beca managed to turn over in Chloe's arms and rest her head in the crook of her neck. So Beca enjoyed spooning in her sleep? That was something she'd definitely have to remember. It wasn't the time to be teasing the brunette. Chloe was good at reading people's emotions, but since she'd sat next to the billionaire in the conference it had been difficult to read her feelings. Now, watching the girl's face in an unconscious state, she could see the fragile girl Beca hid from everyone.

Underneath the sarcasm and the flirts was just a teenage girl going into her twenties, trying to take on the world. Beneath the suit she would wear, in the shadow of that legacy lived a girl who wanted to be something more. Her father wasn't even really her father, he was just Tony. He was the man standing in the way of her own greatness. Like herself, Beca was just a girl thrust into a dangerous world, and she learned to fight against it in a very different way than Chloe had.

A sigh from the brunette made her realize how tired she still was. Though, she knew there were consequences for faling back asleep, at this point Chloe didn't care. She rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, letting Beca's slow breathing fill her ears until she drifted off into slumber.

The next time she woke, it was unfortunately cold next to her. Chloe sat up, searching the room for the brunette. Beca was sitting at her desk without her headphones on, not something she frequently did. The brunette was just sitting there, looking over at her. A small smirk appeared on her lips, and hearing Beca laugh only made her sit up. "If you wanted to get into bed with me, Red, all you had to do was ask."

Chloe smiled, but it was different than how she had been smiling the night before. Beca was back to her old sarcasm and flirts, but there was something different about her. The billionaire seemed much more relaxed than she had been for the past three weeks, and the assassin was very curious to know why. Of course, she wasn't blatant about it. After many years of being an assassin Chloe knew more subtle ways to get information she wanted, one of the many perks of being Natasha Barton's daughter.

"What's got you all happy this morning?" Chloe asked, looking over at the clock. 10 A.M., oh well, Fury would deal with it. Beca was still smirking in her chair, but moved to sit next to her. "Well, I did wake up next to a beautiful red head." She couldn't help the blush on her cheeks as she looked into the brunette's dark blue eyes. Sometimes they almost looked grey, like a storm. It only added to the mystery that was Beca Stark. No one could survive the storm and come back the same, not even Chloe.

"Listen, Beca, Fury called at six this morning and said we had to go in," the billionaire only laughed, looking over at the clock and shaking her head. "I don't see why you didn't wake me up, aren't you supposed to be the person making sure I follow the rules?" Chloe shrugged, smiling slightly. "Well, if I woke you up it would've meant you only had four hours of sleep, and considering the fact that Fury's obviously got something planned for us I figured you'd need more than that."

"You might want to get changed," Beca noted, pointing at the pajama shorts and tank top Chloe was wearing. "Because I don't think you want to be later than we already are." Chloe nodded, immediately peeling off her tank top and changing into a suit much like her mother's. She put a button up blouse and jeans over it, just in case she needed a cover for later.

Looking over her shoulder at Beca, she could see the brunette had turned to face the wall. "Come on, Beca, it's not like you haven't seen it before." She smirked, adoring the way she could make Beca blush. The billionaire turned, rolling her eyes and opening the door for her. "Going to SHIELD, Jarvis, I'll be back soon enough."

The technological butler didn't answer, but as they walked down the hallways Beca grabbed her keycard for the elevator. "What do you think they want?" Beca asked, only after the elevator doors had closed, of course. Chloe only shrugged her shoulders, looking over at the brunette. "Probably found that artifact they were looking for."

She listened to the brunette's sigh, but decided it was best not to have all the details for the moment. "Listen, Beca, the faster we get through the meeting the faster we'll get the artifact. So, keep the sarcasm to a minimum?" Beca laughed, and they met each other's gaze. "How can I say no to you?" It was meant to be a joke, but Chloe saw the true meaning beneath her words, and it was sweet.

Walking into the conference room was like walking into a freezer. They were greeted with cold glares, and the sad part about the entire thing, everyone immediately assumed it was Beca's fault for their tardiness. "You do realize we've been waiting for four hours?" It was Aubrey who spoke, and though Chloe was surprised by her tone, it was obvious Beca wasn't. "That's funny, Aubrey, it's like you expect me to care."

Fury cleared her throat, and they sat down. Chloe was very close to Beca, not only to make sure the brunette didn't say any sarcastic remarks to slow them down, but to also make sure she was all right. Not that Beca would admit it, but the comments about being like her father must have hurt. Chloe hadn't thought about it too often, but the times she was compared to her mother and father she wished she wasn't. She was Chloe Barton, not Natasha or Clint, and no one was going to change that for her. "Now that we're all here," Fury's glare at Beca gave Chloe half a mind to go up to the African American woman and slap her, but of course it wouldn't be in the best interest of the team.

"We've finally found the artifact, but it's across the ocean in the middle east. There's already a helicopter waiting for you. It's an hour drive from here to get to it, and I suggest you leave now. Stark, I expect you'll be taking a suit and meeting the helicopter in the air?" Chloe looked over to Beca to see the brunette nod. "It'll take less time that way, and I have a feeling no one here wants to be stuck in an hour long car drive with me."

Looking out at the rest of the table, the only person who seemed willing to object was Benji. Though, she hadn't seen him too much in the weeks they'd been at Barden, the boy seemed nice. If his temper was anything like Bruce's, then Chloe knew she would have to be careful around him. No one truly knew how Bruce was able to have a child, seeing as the gamma exposure should have made him infertile, but no one really wanted to ask questions about it. She was glad enough to have Benji on the team.

"There is something else you should know," Fury said, stopping everyone from standing to go. "Unlike most of your parents," a specific stare was sent Beca's way. "The world doesn't know who you are, and we'd like to keep it that way. Having the media and villains out of your personal life can be a very good thing. So, in the field try not to reveal your names to the public. We can assign you names-"

"Yeah, that's not going to work for me," Chloe looked at Beca, expecting that type of response. Fury only crossed her arms, and the red head could see that the woman had already decided it would be best not to argue with the daughter of Tony Stark. "Then, pray tell, what would you like to be called?"

Beca met Chloe's eyes, and a smile tugged the billionaire's lips, but her gaze quickly returned to Fury. "Titanium." Chloe couldn't help but smile, but hoped it wasn't blatantly obvious to everyone at the table. Apparently she'd made more of an impression on the brunette than she'd thought. Fury nodded, "Very well, but the rest of you will have assigned names. Dismissed." Before Beca had a chance to really leave for her lab, Chloe pulled her to the corner of the room.

"You're sure you're going to be all right meeting us in the air?" Chloe asked, obviously concerned for the shorter girl's safety. "Relax, Red, I've flown in a suit before. I'll see you up there." Chloe left, looking back one last time to see the smiling brunette. Beca gave her a nod, and that was what she needed to leave the room.

Chloe walked beside Aubrey to the black car, but decided it would be best to sit next to Benji for the hour long ride. Conversation wasn't happening for the first half hour of the drive, just silent staring and assessment of each other. It was Benji who spoke first, which was surprising, considering he seemed to be the quietest of the team.

"So what got you guys into the Avenger Initiative?" it was good that the boy was making conversation. He seemed like the one least likely to start a conversation, and to see him fairly comfortable made Chloe smile. "Well," Jesse said, shrugging his shoulders. He was wearing the red, white, and blue uniform that his father used to wear, only this variation had been specifically designed for Jesse. "My dad said it would be good for me to meet all of you, and to do something good for the country rather than just volunteering at animal shelters."

Benji nodded, looking over at Chloe. She thought for a moment before answering. "Mom figured it was better for me to be on a team than to work independently, especially since Dad died." The rest of the team nodded, and Aubrey even reached over and put a hand on her knee. "My father agreed. Instead of traveling to other realms he decided it was best for me to stay here and protect human life."

All eyes were on Benji, and it was obvious the guy was nervous. He scratched the back of his neck and focused his eyes on the floor for a minute or two before looking back up at the group. "Well, my dad figured that I should use our shared anger management issues for good." That definitely got a laugh from everyone in the car, and conversation seemed to continue with smiles and laughter until they reached the helicopter.

Stacie was already there waiting for them, holding a silver briefcase in her hands. As they walked out of the car, all in uniform. Benji wearing a button up shirt and stretch pants, Aubrey wearing some form of Asgardian amor, and Chloe in the uniform she'd dressed in earlier, they walked over to Stacie who opened the brief case. "These are ear pieces, you need to keep them in for every mission. Beca already has hers tapped into the suit, so she doesn't need one. Put it in, and they're already connected, if you just talk Beca should be able to hear you."

Everyone put the ear pieces into their ears before boarding the helicopter, and waited until after they were in the air to try and talk to Beca. "Beca, can you hear us?" Jesse asked, looking around the room at the glances he was receiving. "Loud and clear, Captain. Hey, do you mind opening the door, I'd like to actually sit down as we travel across an ocean."

Chloe watched Jesse roll his eyes and walk over to a lever. He held on to ropes on the side of the plane before pulling the lever, his grip tightening on the ropes as not to fall out. To say everyone was impressed when Beca walked in with her suit was an understatement, they were downright shocked.

They hadn't realize how intelligent Beca actually was, and the fact that she had build that suit herself was amazing. It was similar to her father's Iron Man suit, but very different. The suit wasn't quite as masculine as his, but the artillery was much better according to Beca, as were the flight controls as they watched her land gracefully into the back of the helicopter. The paint was, of course, red and gold, it seemed to be a theme. As the back door of the helicopter closed, Beca took off the helmet she wore. Of course, the suit made her taller than she normally would be, so she was slightly taller than everyone other than Benji and Aubrey.

"Glad to see you guys missed me so much," she said, taking a seat next to Chloe and smiling at her. "Of course we missed you, Titanium." The pet name was definitely going to grow on her, especially with the fact that Beca had especially picked that name. There was a reason behind it, and Chloe knew that reason, but there was no reason for everyone else to know, not just yet. "Do you guys even have your code names yet?"

It was Beca who asked the question, and every other team member shook their heads. The brunette sighed, shaking her head and leaning back against the wall of the helicopter. "No codenames? I guess I'll just have to make some." She smirked, shrugging her shoulders while still in the suit. It was surprisingly agile to daily movements, and Chloe couldn't help but notice the craftsman ship in it.

"Jesse you're Captain, Benji you're Hulk 2.0, Aubrey you're just Aubrey, You don't get a cool name. Chloe, you're Scarlet." Beca sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Sorry they're not creative, but I didn't exactly get a lot of time to come up with them."

"You really think you're hilarious," Jesse sighed, leaning back in his seat with a dejected look on his face. It was obvious he was hoping for a new name, but didn't get what he wished for. He was under his father's shadow of captain and leader, much like Beca. "It's like SHIELD is trying to recreate the Avengers with us." "That's because they are," Beca replied, earning a look from everyone. It wasn't the usual glare she received, but a look of understanding. They were all just there to replace their parents in a time of crisis, and no one but Beca had actually thought about it until then.

Hours and hours had gone by until they received word from their driver, who was surprisingly Stacie and another member of SHIELD. "All right, Avengers, we're going to need you on the ground. Titanium, first you're going to have to go out the back and make sure things are okay for us to land? You ready?"

Beca laughed, smiling and tilting her head as she stood up. "Finally, we get to the fun part." She put the helmet over her head again and looked at Chloe. "See you down there, Red." Jesse walked over and opened the back door again. After breaking into a running start, Beca jumped into the open air over the desert.


	5. The Artifact

The thrusters automatically started before she was anywhere close to the ground, and Beca yelled out a cheer as she flew into the air. Looking below, using the screen that was her sight showed her everything she needed to know. There was a team of men carrying an incredibly large box across the desert, which didn't make much sense, but considering the only part of the mission was to get the artifact things didn't need to make sense.

"Read me, Titanium?" she heard Stacie's voice through the radio in her suit, and she smiled, obviously that had been hooked up correctly. "Loud and clear Stacie, I'm going in for a closer look to see if we can land." Beca flew closer to the sand, constantly searching around her.

"Beca, enemies approaching from your left," she immediately got the message and turned to look and see who was coming. The brunette hovered in a spot, looking at the enemies. Her eyes widened as her screen zoomed in on the enemies. "RPG, incoming! Landing isn't the best idea!" Without a second thought, Beca rushed into action, flying towards the man with the RPG. "Are we certain flying towards the man with a large gun is a smart idea, Beca?" Jarvis' voice asked, but she shook her head. "His aim is on us and not on them, it gives them time to get the artifact."

"Perhaps firing back would be a proper solution," Beca rolled her eyes, laughing slightly. "I was getting to that." Pushing her hand out in front of her, she fired, hitting one of the men square in the chest. As she landed on the ground sand flew up around her, clouding the men's vision. She managed to blast two others before the sand was blown out of the way by the wind, and the brunette saw the man with the RPG. "Now firing's not such a great idea, Jarvis, since I don't really feel like getting blown up."

She ran in, knocking the weapon out of the man's arms. With one punch to the head the man was down, and Beca flexed the fingers of the suit. "Wow, this thing's stronger than I thought." The billionaire smiled, taking to the air once again and looking up at the helicopter. "I don't detect anymore serious weapons around, Beca, it looks as if it's fairly clear to land."

"Ready to land, Stacie, get everyone else out here," Beca moved to fly next to the helicopter, escorting it down to land. Through the cockpit window Beca saw Stacie nod as the others jumped out of the back. Jesse came first, his star shield in hand, looking around the desert and finding the box in the distance. "I'm going to have to stay in the air until you get the artifact, just yell when you're ready to get back in."

Stacie took the helicopter back into the air, and for the first time the Avengers were on assignment. Almost everyone looked to Jesse for guidance, everyone except Beca, that is. Her gaze immediately went to the box. "There it is! It's right there! We can get it!" Jesse put a hand on the arm of Beca's suit, stopping her from jumping into the air and flying after it.

"Hold on, Stark! We need a plan of attack!" Aubrey's nod in the background confirmed Beca's suspicions. Of course the blonde stick in the mud would agree with Rogers' kid, but Beca wasn't about to be put at the bottom of Aubrey's little game again. "I have a plan: attack." She pulled herself away from Jesse's grasp and shot into the air, flying towards the box.

As she looked at the ground, Beca saw a giant green monstrosity moving towards the box. She was definitely impressed by Benji's size, he looked absolutely terrifying as the Hulk, not a look she expected from him. Hulk had already gone to work, flinging some of the men carrying the box to the side. She landed beside him, landing a kick to a man's stomach and sending him back into the sand. "That's gonna hurt in the morning!"

It was such a rush! The battle raging around them, and the adrenaline pumped through her veins, but when there were no more men to fight, Jesse and the others finally arrived at their side. Beca kept looking around, trying to see more enemies, but no one was there. A hand was placed on the soldier of her suit, and she turned to see Chloe standing beside her. "They're all gone, Stark, we did it."

What? That was impossible. How could it be that simple? The brunette got an uneasy feeling in her stomach and continued to look around the desert. She walked away from the group, scanning the area across the dunes, searching for any sign of life. "Miss Barton is correct, Beca, there are no other signs of life for miles." Beca shook her head, looking back at the others who seemed pleased with their work. Even if Aubrey was angry at her for taking charge, she couldn't deny seeing the sense of pride on the blonde's face. They'd completed their first mission, but why did it feel so wrong.

"Something's on your mind, Beca," Chloe said, bringing all the attention back to her and pulling the billionaire from her thoughts. "There's no one else here," she mused, looking into the red head's eyes. "Yeah, we established that. Aren't you supposed to be glad?" Jesse's tone was resentful. His father was the leader of the previous Avengers, and it seemed that he wasn't doing the job quite right, but Beca didn't really care about that.

"Why is there no one else here? There were only twelve guys guarding this thing. If it's as important as Fury's making it out to be than getting it back was way too easy." Beca saw Chloe raise her eyebrow, shaking her head. "What are you saying, Beca?" She sighed, looking back at the others. "I'm saying they wanted us to get this thing."

"That's absolutely ridiculous," of course, Aubrey would be the one to disagree with her, it wasn't as if the blonde hadn't done so hundreds of times during Bellas practices. Beca didn't have time to argue, seeing as the helicopter landed beside them. Chloe's eyes weren't very protected from the sand, and the brunette could see she was having trouble keeping the small grains from her eyes. Beca moved to be in front of her, putting an arm in front of the red head's face, and as they walked into the helicopter Beca was the one to cary the artifact box.

Benji somehow managed to come out of being a Hulk, but definitely needed new pants. Luckily, the helicopter was equipped for the situation, and shortly after Benji was sitting in a seat with new pants and a new shirt. Beca had already taken off her helmet and was sitting next to him, not minding that Chloe was asleep on her other side.

"You were really good out there," Benji said, looking over at her. She smiled at him, shrugging her shoulders. "So were you. You're good when you're Hulked out." The boy laughed, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. "There's a secret to it, I guess, and I figured it out faster than my father did."

Beca nodded, leaning back in her seat and letting her head rest against the grey wall. "Listen, I'm going to get some shut eye on the flight back, I didn't exactly get any on the way here." He nodded, and it was nice to see him lean back in his seat too. Soon enough, the brunette was asleep.

When they finally landed, Beca felt herself being shoved and let out a low groan, not wanting to move. Slowly opening her eyes, the billionaire saw Chloe sitting next to her, gently pushing on her shoulder. "We're there already? I could've used about another hour." Chloe laughed, bringing the brunette out of her sleep filled haze. "Well, you have to fly back to the SHIELD base while we have to drive, so you'll be there faster than we will."

Beca smiled, putting on her helmet and walking out of the back of the helicopter with Chloe at her side. It was nice to constantly be with the red head, it didn't feel forced, but natural. She shrugged, smiling over at the assassin. "You're right, I'll be there faster than you. Race you there?" Without another word, Beca launched herself into the air and began the flight back to Barden.

"Do you have a toner for Miss Barton, Beca," the brunette's eyes immediately widened, shaking her head. "Jarvis, if you ever say that word again I will deactivate you for a week." "Not likely, Beca, you need me too much to simply deactivate me." She sighed, rolling her eyes and admitting defeat. "Stop being such a pain, Jarvis." "I will do what I can."

Chloe sat in the back of the car next to Aubrey, watching the clock to see how long it would take them to get there. Tension was thick, and the atmosphere wasn't great. "Why didn't she listen to me?" Jesse asked, looking at the group with a shocked expression. "We could've had a plan, and it would've worked better than just charging in?" The supersoldier sent a look Benji's way, who in turn looked at the ground with a sad expression.

"She's Tony Stark's daughter, what did you honestly expect," Aubrey said, and that was Chloe's breaking point. Everyone had been blaming Beca for the simplest of things, even when the mission was a complete success. "If we had waited the artifact could've gotten farther away, she did what she could to get it back."

Benji nodded his head in agreement, "I think so too. If we waited they could've done something to get farther away. Maybe they had more technology than we saw, or one of us could've been hurt. Beca was right to go quickly." Two pro Beca, and two anti Beca, it was going to be a long car ride.

"I'm the leader of this team," this made Chloe angrier than she already was, and the red head crossed her arms over her chest. "You're the leader of this team? When did we decide that? I don't remember anyone putting a crown on your head." She saw Benji's smile from the corner of her eye, and the boy put his hands over his mouth as to stifle his laughter.

"I have to agree with them on this," Aubrey said, surprising both the assassin and the boy. "None of us decided on a leader, and I have doubts that we will, considering Beca Stark's vote will most likely be for herself." The blonde shrugged, leaning her head against the seat. "Eventually we will decide on a leader, but that doesn't need to happen after our first victory. We should be celebrating."

Chloe let out a small sigh of relief. The tension in the car was fading, and the only person seething was Jesse. Though, one thing stuck to her mind. Aubrey had compared the brunette to her father, just like everyone else the billionaire had ever known. She was glad Beca wasn't in the car, otherwise she would've been sad to hear what the rest of her team thought of her.

Or maybe Beca didn't care. It was a possibility. She'd build walls so high around herself that maybe she stopped caring about people on the other side of them. No, that wasn't what it was. Beca may have protected herself from the world, but she definitely wasn't as selfish as her father. The brunette dove into action to stop people from shooting down the helicopter. If she didn't care about the team, then she had a funny way of showing it.

Finally arriving back at Barden, the team took the elevator down to the base, careful not to let anyone see them. Chloe briskly walked into the conference room, smiling when she saw Beca, dressed in her normal attire rather than her suit. The brunette was pacing in the back of the room, shaking her head and mumbling to herself. She had to admit, the billionaire was cute when she was so lost in her own thoughts.

She watched the small smile appear on Beca's lips as she turned to see the team in the doorway. Chloe wasn't certain how long the brunette had been in the base, but it didn't matter. They'd all made it back safely, and that really determined the success of their mission. "Glad to see you made it back in one piece, Red." Chloe smiled, shaking her head slightly and crossing her arms. "Is this going to become a thing?"

"Maybe, that depends on if you like it," Beca winked, and they moved to sit next to each other. "I definitely like it." The brunette smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Then I'll definitely keep doing it." Fury walked into the room, cutting off their conversation and Beca's smile turned into a serious expression. She crossed her arms over her chest, and out of the corner of her eye Chloe saw her mumble something under her breath.

"Good work getting the artifact," Fury said, looking over at Beca. "but one of your team members feels something is off." The rest of the team looked to her, waiting for an answer. "It was too easy. If this thing is as important as we think then we got it way too fast. It's like whoever stole it wanted us to get it."

Fury sighed, shaking her head at the statement. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I do agree with Stark on this one. She will be taking a look at the artifact in her lab." Benji suddenly stood, raising his hand slightly. "I could help." Everyone looked at him, and a small red blush creeped to his cheeks. "I'm good with science."

"Just try not to break anything, Big Guy," Beca stood, giving a small wink to Chloe before going over to Benji, leading him out of the conference room. "You know, Aubrey and Jesse don't really like you." The brunette could help but smile, he was like a high school boy trying to impress he girl he had a crush on. "Why should I care what they think of me? I get the job done and that's what matters."

They walked side by side, maneuvering through the confusing halls of the underground base. Jarvis had already downloaded schematics of the building to her phone, so Beca was never truly lost. She wasn't about to give anyone that sense of satisfaction. From the corner of her eye she could see Benji fidgeting with his hands, and she raised her eyebrow. "Why do you do that?" she pointed to his hands, looking up at him. "Oh, it helps keep me calm. I used to just do it when I was angry, but now I just do it all the time."

Beca nodded, understanding the reasoning behind it. After swiping her key card into the slot she opened the door for him, leading him into her lab. Four of her armor suits were along the wall, all of them charging power. Two suits were exactly the same, and one was the version she was currently updating. The third was a travel version of her suit, in case the brunette ever needed to suit up on the go.

"This is an amazing lab," he said as the door closed behind them. Benji's eyes were filled with wonder, and it reminded Beca of the first time she'd walked into her own lab. She was only eight, but her mind was much more developed than most children at her age. Pepper and Tony told the girl they had a surprise for her, even after receiving some of the most amazing presents. Of course, they were all from her mother. Tony didn't believe in giving things away for free.

Pepper put her hands over her daughters eyes, disabling her sight and plunging her into darkness, but Beca wasn't nervous. Her mother always had a special way of making her feel safe. When her eyes were finally opened, she looked at the area around her, an enormous smile on her face. "Welcome to your own lab!" her mother had said, and eight year old Beca ran around the room with the greatest joy she'd ever known.

With Benji, that smile seemed to look the exact same way. Shaking her head, the billionaire drew herself from her thoughts. She cleared her throat and directed Benji over to the center of her lab. A table stood in place, with a bright, glowing blue sphere hovering there. It didn't move, but Beca could hear a distant humming sound in her ears, and knew the artifact was making the sound.

"What is it?" Benji asked, looking from he artifact to her. Beca didn't take her eyes off of it, and she shook her head. "That's our job to find out." She tore her eyes away from the beautiful sphere and turned to Benji, going to the computer on the desk next to the wall of her lab. "Jarvis, what are you reading from this thing?"

"There are small levels of radiation from the object, but not enough to harm anyone." Beca nodded, letting her gaze turn from the computer to the artifact? What was it, and why was it constantly making that annoying humming? "Do you hear that?" she asked, looking over at Benji who stood at her side. "Hear what?"

"You don't hear that humming?" the brunette raised her eyebrow, looking back towards the blue sphere as Benji shook his head. "No, I don't hear anything." Things were certainly becoming more interesting. First the suspicion surrounding the artifact's recovery and then the item itself. Beca walked over to the blue sphere, crossing her arms over her chest. Whatever this thing was, Beca was going to find out.


	6. Wine and Dine

Frankly, the Bellas show at SBT went in complete disaster. Were Beca in charge of the a cappella group she never would have made the girls perform so early in the year. They'd barely had a week to rehearse, and it showed in their performance. No one knew the dance routine besides Aubrey and Ashley, who both looked embarrassed to be there at all. Stacie couldn't keep her eyes off of Jessica's body, and though Chloe was trying, Beca could sense something was definitely wrong.

They were kicked out of the party before they could even finish their first song, and boy did Aubrey look ticked. She sent a glare specifically at the brunette, but this was one of the few times where the billionaire wasn't entirely to blame. Sure, she hadn't spent a lot of time learning or practicing the choreography, but it didn't mean it was her fault specifically. The Bellas walked down the path, most of the girls hanging their heads.

Uncharacteristically, Chloe was walking at a distance from Beca, she was walking at a distance to everyone. It was like she didn't want them around, which definitely wasn't a Chloe thing to do. After spending almost an entire month with the assassin Beca already started realizing her quirks. Aubrey walked over to the red head, making a big deal of their 'failure'. "Chloe, for serious, what is wrong with you?"

The red head turned to the rest of the group, her eyes puffy and shining with unshed tears. "I have nodes." Aubrey immediately gasped, putting a comforting hand on Chloe's shoulder. How the blonde could be angry one minute and concerned the next was astounding. If Beca ever noticed Aubrey doing it to her, she was definitely going to point it out. "Oh my Odin." Why hadn't Fury said anything about the constant saying of 'Odin'? Was it really necessary? "I found out this morning."

"What are nodes?" she asked, looking at the two women as Stacie and Fat Amy came to stand beside her. Aubrey simply stared at her as if she were the village idiot, oh the irony. "Vocal nodules... the rubbing together of your vocal chords without proper lubrication." Beca noticed a tear running down Chloe's cheek, and a part of her wanted to run to the assassin, to put her arm around the red head's shoulders and tell her everything was going to be fine. "They sit on your wind pipe and crush your dreams."

She looked at Chloe in astonishment, shaking her head slightly. "Isn't that painful? Why would you keep performing?" "Because I love to sing." Even when Stacie spoke, she didn't take her eyes from Chloe's. "Yeah, it's like when my lady doctor told me not to have sex for six weeks, and I did it anyway." Fat Amy scoffed beside her, looking at the tall brunette with a disgusted expression. "You should really listen to your doctor."

Stacie only shrugged, but Beca still hadn't stopped looking at Chloe. She looked devastated, but why? This was only a cover, a ridiculous club that they had to be in while they were stationed at Barden. What was the big deal about it? "The key is early diagnosis. I am living with nodes, but I'm a survivor, and I won't give up." Aubrey nodded at her, but Beca only rolled her eyes. She couldn't help it, the speech sounded too dramatic for her taste. "On that note, practice is cancelled for today, but you can expect an early rise tomorrow."

Without hesitation the other Bellas started to file out, all except for Chloe. She stood on the path, looking out at the rest of the Bellas and smiling slightly. The brunette walked over to her, tilting her head and smiling slightly. "What's on your mind, Red?" Chloe just smiled, but still didn't look at her. "I have nodes." Her voice was soft, defenseless. It made a crack in the walls around the billionaire's heart to hear Chloe so broken. "Of all the diseases I could've gotten I managed to get nodes?"

Beca was never good at the whole 'consoling' thing. She'd never been around someone who wasn't happy, or at least arrogant. Considering Tony had kept her under wraps and away from the media her entire life. Not to say she wasn't grateful not to be in the latest magazines, but it did mean she was at a slight disadvantage when it cames to things like this. "Come on, Chlo," the brunette whispered, putting an arm around the assassin's shoulders. "Let's go back to the dorm."

Chloe nodded, leaning into her side and putting almost all of her weight on the shorter girl. Beca only smiled gently, trying to lead her across the quad without drawing too much attention to themselves. It wasn't that she didn't want people to see her, it was that she didn't want Chloe to remember feeling so weak in front of so many people.

As they finally arrived back in the dorm, Beca helped the red head sit down on the couch. Chloe wasn't weak, Beca knew that for certain, but as soon as the door closed behind them the red head broke down into a mess of sobs. Uncertain of what to do, Beca simply put her arms around Chloe and let the assassin lean her head onto her shoulder. Warm tears soaked into her shirt, but Beca didn't seem to mind. Chloe was hurting, and that was really all that mattered.

One hour passed before the red head's wails finally died down, and her breathing became somewhat normal. Beca ran her hand through the ginger's locks, continuing to soothe her as they sat. "Feeling any better?" Chloe nodded, only falling further into Beca's embrace and nuzzling against the billionaire's side. "Tired."

She sighed, if the assassin was going to sleep then she could work on a mix. A mix? Why was her mind on a mix? It was ridiculous to even be thinking about music when Chloe was such a mess. The red head's face was marred with tears, and although it wasn't the greatest look, Beca still thought she was beautiful.

Eventually Chloe fell into a peaceful slumber. She wasn't stirring or making any sudden movement, giving Beca the all clear to go. What could she do to make the red head feel better? It had to be something special, something perfect. Of course, Beca knew it couldn't look fake, otherwise Chloe wouldn't believe she was just trying to be helpful. When the idea came to her mind, a giant grin spread across her face. Quickly and quietly, she tiptoed to the door, opening it and taking one last look at the red head. She was going to love it, and Beca closed the door with a soft click behind her.

Chloe woke, sitting up and rubbing her eyes, trying to remember what happened. She'd told the Bellas she had nodes, which was one of the most humiliating moments in her life, but then Beca had been there. Beca, the billionaire genius who was a social outcast had actually comforted her and made her feel better. It wasn't like Chloe didn't expect it, after all, the small brunette managed to crawl into her life, not letting go. Beca might've been a leech, but in a very good way.

Moving her hands from her eyes, Chloe saw the scene in front of her. The dorm was dark, besides two candles on the coffee table in the middle of the room. Beca stood, pouring a glass of wine and setting it by another one on the small table. The brunette turned, smiling as she put the top back on the bottle. "Glad to see you up, that was quite a nap you took." She barely understood what Beca was saying, seeing as her mind was still too focused on the setup in front of her.

"What is this?" Chloe asked, looking at the glasses of wine and the pizza box, and watching as Beca sat cross legged on the floor. "Well, I figured since you seemed pretty down after our little show I thought you might like something nice." The red head smiled, getting down onto the ground next to Beca and sitting beside her. "For a billionaire you have a poor definition of 'wine and dine'."

Beca shrugged, and though there was a limited amount of light Chloe could still see the red in her cheeks. "Don't you think we should start eating this? I mean, it's going to get cold if we don't." The brunette grabbed a paper plate, getting a slice of pizza and handing it to Chloe. She was much more chivalrous than Chloe would've originally thought, but this was sweet of her. As she started eating her pizza, she realized the brunette might not be as civilized as she thought.

The shorter girl was being very sloppy as she ate her pizza, letting cheese fall onto her chin and wiping it away with the back of her hand. Chloe giggled, looking away as Beca caught her, but she still heard a laugh. When the red head was done with her slice the billionaire offered another, but she politely declined. She'd had enough pizza for one night.

Instead, the red head took a chance. After Beca put her paper plate back onto the coffee table Chloe moved closer, allowing their sides to touch. Her hand rested on the brunette's leg and Chloe let her head rest on Beca's shoulder. She felt the billionaire's arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. A smile crossed her lips, and before she could speak Beca placed a kiss to the top of her head.

"You know, this is probably one of the sweetest things anyone's ever done for me," Chloe mused, sighing in content as the brunette's hand rubbed small circles on her back. "Yeah, well, don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold." She raised her eyebrow, "Why are you so concerned for a reputation that you don't like?"

"It's the Stark legacy, I guess," Beca responded, but neither moved from their position. "We're a pretty egotistical bunch, and I manage to capture to image perfectly. I'm definitely sarcastic enough." Chloe couldn't help her laugh, shaking her head slightly. "You might even be a little too sarcastic." "Well, I wouldn't go that far."

As much as she didn't want to, Chloe pulled away, looking into the brunette's eyes. She seemed so open, so willing to do anything. It was something the red head wouldn't see regularly, but the change between her sarcastic attitude and her sweet side was something Chloe was definitely going to cherish. "Beca, can we do something?"

"We can do whatever you want," the brunette replied, thinking for a moment before talking again. "As long as it doesn't involve singing. You are resting you're vocal chords tonight." Chloe laughed, loving how concerned Beca seemed for her. "No, it has nothing to do with singing. I just thought," she sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind, it's really stupid."

Chloe turned away to stand up, but Beca grabbed her hands, pulling her back. "Whatever it is, it's not stupid. Just tell me what it is, okay?" The red head's eyes stayed on the ground, not willing to meet the DJ's. "I thought we could tell each other something personal about ourselves." At this, she saw Beca's eyes widen slightly, but at least the girl wasn't running. "I mean, we've known each other long enough, but we don't know that much about each other."

She watched the wheels turn in Beca's head, wondering if she was going to stay or if she was going to turn tail and run for the hills. Yet, the brunette stayed in place, sighing softly. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Red." Chloe was tired of the secrets, of the constant protection Beca had around her personal life, and if it took a little nudge to get the girl to open up then a nudge was what Chloe was going to give.

Beca was about to stand up, but Chloe started talking. "My parents and I used to spend Christmas together." This got Beca's attention, and the billionaire sat down, listening attentively. She took a deep breath before continuing, because it wasn't exactly an easy story for her to tell. "It was when I was a kid. They never went on assignment in December. That was the month we would spend together as a family.

"We'd go on amazing trips to fabulous countries. I'd been to Paris, England, and Italy before I was twelve. Everything was great, and I was always with one of my parents because I was too young to start working. Then, when I turned sixteen, they figured it was time I started going into the family business.

"I was put on assignment in America, they didn't think I was ready enough to go out into other countries. They'd been training me since I was six years old. I'd always gotten martial arts lessons from them, and both my parents taught me how to fire and reload guns and bows at the age of ten. I was born and raised an assassin.

"Last year was the last Christmas we spent together as a family. My assignment was still going on until almost the end of December, and I almost didn't make it home for Christmas. Luckily, I finally caught the guy I was after and took the first flight home. Mom and Dad were waiting for me, and as soon as I got to the airport they hugged me. I don't think not coming home for Christmas was their biggest concern at the time.

"That was when I realized how important it was to be with my family. I didn't get to do it as often as most people, and being with Mom and Dad just made me so happy. Now Dad's dead, and I don't even know if Mom and I will be getting together for Christmas this year."

Beca didn't say a word, in fact, the brunette didn't seem to make any reaction at all. She just sat there, like stone. With a sigh, Chloe admitted defeat. What was she expecting? That the great Beca Stark was just going to open up to her because she'd asked politely? How more stupid could she have been. Chloe moved to get up, but she was stopped by Beca's voice.

"Mom left us," the red head quickly turned around, seeing the pain and sadness in the brunette's eyes. Pepper left them? Why didn't anyone know? No one had heard from Pepper Potts for years, and they'd all just assumed she was at home with the Stark child, but not once had she heard anything on the news about Pepper leaving.

"I was ten. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I heard something. I went looking for her, searching the entire penthouse twice before I finally went down to Tony's lab and knocked on the door. When he asked what was wrong I told him I couldn't find Mom.

"He and I went up the stairs, searching penthouse another time until Tony found a note on the counter. I never knew exactly what it said, but he just told me to go back to sleep and that he'd explain everything in the morning. I couldn't fall asleep, I was too worried about Mom.

"In the morning he came into my room, sitting in my favorite chair. He told me a synopsis of what the note said. She'd left us without a word, and she was gone. I haven't heard from her since."

Chloe's heart broke, if she'd known that about Beca then she would've been more understanding of the brunette's cynicism. Looking into her eyes, she saw tears, and a small drop streamed down her face. "I've never told anyone this. Tony said we didn't want it getting into the media, and we'd just say Mom was on business or at home.

"That was when he took me out of public school. It was so I wouldn't have to answer any questions about Mom. Since Tony was a harsh teacher, I always had to work twice as hard to get good grades from him. It was also when I stopped getting birthday presents and build everything I wanted for myself." Beca looked away, and Chloe couldn't help but notice how her voice cracked several times as she finished the story. "I miss her."

She gently placed her hand under Beca's chin, forcing the brunette to look into her eyes. Tears cascaded down the billionaire's cheeks. Rather than being curled into their usual smirks, her lips were tilted down in a frown. Chloe leaned forward, not wanting to invade Beca's personal space, but the DJ didn't seem to mind as the red head wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and hold her in a tight hug. In fact, Beca hugged back, something highly unusual for her.

As Chloe pulled away, she placed a light kiss to one of the streams on Beca's cheeks. "Thank you," the girl whispered, and Chloe raised her eyebrow. "For what?" The brunette smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "For listening." Their faces were inches apart, and all Chloe could think about was how beautiful Beca was, even when she cried. There was nothing the assassin wanted more than to take the girl's pain away. She'd never had a problem with boundaries, but she knew invading Beca's might end up pushing the brunette out of her life.

Before she had time to say anything, to object to what they were doing, to have any voice of reason in the situation, her lips were captured by the brunette's. It wasn't rushed, nor was it needy. The kiss was soft, tender, and more passionate than words could describe. Her eyes quickly closed, and she felt the warmth of Beca's arms wrap around her.

She smiled and pulled away, only because her lungs were screaming for oxygen. Tears had finally stopped rolling down Beca's cheeks, and the girl smiled, tilting her head to the side and giving the assassin an adorable puppy eyed look. Chloe leaned forward again, bringing their lips together for the second time. Of course, neither of them had an objection.

As the night went on, they ended up lying together on Beca's bed. The red head safely protected in Beca's arms, listening to the sound of the billionaire's heartbeat. "We should probably keep this under wraps," the brunette whispered, and Chloe raised her head to raise her eyebrow at the response.

"What do we call this, us?" Chloe asked, finding herself unable to complain as Beca placed yet another soft kiss to her lips.

"Our little secret."


	7. Figuring Things Out

Beca woke to find her limbs tangled with Chloe's in her bed, and after recalling the events of the previous night, she couldn't help the smile that played on her lips. Chloe had been there, and she hadn't gone away when she recounted the partially true story of her mother's departure. It wasn't like she could tell anyone the truth, but Chloe knowing her mother was gone was enough. They shared more in common than the red head would ever realize.

Speaking of the red head, she stirred in the brunette's arms, making her smile. "Well, good morning sleepy head," Beca greeted her, laughing at the tired grin on Chloe's face. "Good morning to you too," the assassin leaned up for a kiss, and Beca certainly didn't deny her. Everything seemed to be going perfectly, besides Bellas practice of course.

The brunette sat up, immediately groaning and rubbing the back of her neck. As she stood, Beca lifted her arms to the air, trying to stretch her muscles. Chloe was at her side, and feeling the red head's arms wrap around her waist was definitely an amazing feeling in the morning. "You okay?" Beca didn't have to look at the assassin to know she was concerned. In response came a sigh and a slight shake of her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," looking over, Beca could tell the red head didn't believe her. "It's just my shoulders and back. After doing that choreography yesterday and working in the lab the day before I didn't get a lot of rest." Chloe smiled, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, just lie down on your stomach and I can help." The brunette smirked, tilting her head. "Should I be worried, Red?"

Although hesitant, Beca complied with Chloe's orders, lying down on her stomach. Chloe's leg stretched across her middle, and before the billionaire could protest the red head was straddling her waist. Her fingers were pressing roughly into her shoulders, and she certainly couldn't deny it was one of the most amazing sensations in the world.

Chloe was constantly digging into her shoulders, getting to every knot in her muscles and forcing them out. It was very pleasurable, and Beca couldn't help but wish she'd known the red head was an amazing masseuse earlier. A small moan escaped her lips as Chloe pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder before moving off of her. Looking at the clock, Beca saw it had been a half hour. "How's that feel?" Chloe asked, and all the brunette could do was laugh.

"Wow," it was all she could say, but the assassin nodded. "Then my work here is done, and I think you have to be at the lab with Benji." Beca rolled her eyes. Of course Chloe knew her schedule, she was an assassin, it was her job. "I guess I'd better be going then." Beca smirked, letting herself move closer to the red head. "Maybe I don't want you to." "Maybe you can't stop me."

The brunette quickly changed into a new outfit, considering she'd fallen asleep in the outfit she'd been wearing the entire day before. She kissed Chloe on her way out, smiling at the red head and promising to be back soon before running out of the room. It wasn't that she didn't want to be with Chloe, but getting to her lab sounded like an excellent idea in midst of all the chaos.

Now she had much more to do than just keep the secret of SHIELD's base. The brunette had to perform for the Bellas, work in the lab to try and figure out what the artifact was, keep her relationship with Chloe a secret, and keep the secret of SHIELD's base. It was going to be a wonder how she made it through the year. Quickly swiping her key card into the elevator's slot, she practically ran through SHIELD's hallways into her lab, where Benji was already waiting for her.

He was wearing a lab coat, but for what reason, Beca didn't know. Maybe it was because he wanted to impress the people who walked by, or maybe he wanted to impress her, either way, the brunette thought he looked pretty ridiculous. She looked over at him, nodding slightly, but she didn't ruin his fun by telling him how stupid he looked in a lab coat.

"Have you found anything out yet?" Beca asked, walking over beside him and looking at the computer monitor on her desk. "Actually, before we get started, can I ask you something?" Beca walked over to yet another table in her lab, picking up a screwdriver and observing the sharp edge. "Ask away, Big Guy."

Benji smiled, shrugging his shoulders and rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, if I get too stressed or angry or nervous the uh... the real Big Guy will actually come out. Seeing as we're underground in a secret base, I don't think that would be very good. So uh..." he paused, and Beca could tell he was trying to figure out something to say without offending her.

The brunette simply smiled, walking over to him with a smile. "Well, I promise a stress free environment. No tension. No surprises." Without a wanring, Beca proded him in the side with the screwdriver. "Ow!" he jumped, moving several feet away from her and smiling. "Good one."

"Wow, you've really got a lid on it haven't you? What's your secret? Bongo drums? A big bag of weed?" Before she could continue asking more questions, Jesse Rogers walked into the room. "Are you nuts?" he asked, taking the screwdriver out of Beca's hands. With a smirk, she crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. I've been told enough times you might think it's true."

"We don't need him Hulking out while we're underground. In case you haven't noticed we don't exactly have an escape route for everyone," Beca rolled her eyes, walking away from Jesse and over to Benji. "Did you not notice the part where he was fine? Because I did, and would you mind leaving we're trying to figure out what this is."

Jesse sighed, and Beca knew she'd won. Without another word Jesse walked out of the room. The brunette looked over at Benji, who was shaking his head. "You okay, Big Guy?" He nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "I just think people should stop treating you the way they do." She raised her eyebrow at him, egging him to go on. "Well, they think you're just a stuck up, arrogant person. I think you're a genius."

"That's sweet of you to say, Benji," she smiled, nudging his side with her elbow, and not being quite as rough as she had been with the screwdriver. "but flattery will get you nowhere. Come on, we've got to find out what this is and I want to know by today."

"Do you really think that can happen?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, obviously very surprised by the billionaire's determination. "I'm not sleeping until we find out what this thing is, so we might as well get to work." Hours passed and countless tests were run on the sphere, and unfortunately they didn't figure out what it was. Looking over at the clock, it read 2 A.M., and the poor boy looked exhausted.

"Go back to your dorm and get some sleep Benji," she said, sighing as she looked back over at the sphere. "You don't have to come back tomorrow, I can work with Jarvis." He nodded, looking over at her and taking off his lab coat. "What about you? Are you going back to your dorm?" Beca shook her head, sighing and cracking her neck. "I'm not sleeping until I find out what this thing is and what it does."

For a moment Beca thought the boy was going to argue with her, but as she heard the lab doors open and close she knew he was gone. After rubbing her eyes with her hand, Jarvis spoke through the speakers. "Beca, are you sure you don't wish to retire?" She laughed, looking back at the sphere. "I'm not going anywhere, Jarvis, so are you ready to help?" After turning off the clocks in the lab room, Beca went back to work, sighing as she let herself get lost in the work.

She had no idea how much time had passed, considering the fact that all the clocks were off. Beca was exhausted, and she could tell it had at minimum been twenty four hours since she had last seen sunlight. She needed sleep, but the brunette wasn't about to stop working. It didn't matter if she missed Bellas practices, because the artifact was more important than some ridiculous singing competition.

"What are you?" she looked at the sphere, watching it glow faster. Getting back into more math, she shoved the papers off of her desk and onto the floor to start again. "My math is never wrong, and I still can't figure out what you are." The billionaire walked over to the sphere, sighing and looking at it. "At this point I don't care if you hurt me or not."

Without a second of hesitation Beca took the sphere in her hand, looking down at it with an awed expression. Suddenly, she was thrust out of the lab and into her dorm, but when she called Chloe's name, the red head couldn't hear her. Looking down, she saw the sphere was still in her hand. Chloe sat at the computer, looking through the billionaire's laptop, figures. Yet, as she looked over to the couch, Beca could swore she saw something.

It was her! She was sleeping on the couch as Chloe looked through her computer! But she was standing there! How was it possible? The brunette watched as the assassin pulled a picture from her computer. It was a picture of her and her mother on a pier by the ocean. Pepper held her close, and the nine year old Beca's smile was so big. Chloe shook her head, looking at the picture. "What happened to you, Beca?"

After blinking, the DJ found herself back in the lab. She looked around, running over to the wall and banging on it with her fist just to make sure it was real. She laughed, running a hand through her hair and looking down at the sphere in her hands. "Looks like you do have answers for me after all?" Beca smiled, walking over to her desk and trying to put the sphere on the white table, but it decided to hover instead. "You're just a little ball of personality."

Its blue light only seemed to grow brighter and as it bobbed up and down its movements seemed to be faster. Beca smiled, shaking her head and starting her calculations again. This artifact was something amazing and beyond astronomical. As she kept working the brunette occasionally would steal glances to the floating sphere and smile. She'd made a new friend, even if that friend was a tiny sphere.

After a while she felt someone nudging at her shoulder, but with a groan she turned away from them, her head still resting on her arms. "Uh... Beca, it's Benji." Rolling her eyes, Beca lifted her head to look at the nervous man. "What?" He fidgeted with his hands nervously. "Well, it's been five days and you haven't been out of the lab? Chloe's been getting worried about you."

Oh no. She'd completely forgotten about her promise to return to Chloe. Looking at the clock Beca let out another groan as she remembered the clocks had been turned off. "Jarvis, set the clocks for the current time and date." Her voice was groggy and raspy. She wasn't sure of the last time she'd had any food or water, but it had certainly been a while.

"It's been almost seventy-two hours since you turned the clocks off, Beca, perhaps now would be a good time for you to retire to bed. You slept for almost two hours before Mr. Banner entered the lab." Benji looked at her, and considering the boy's expression she knew she had bags under her eyes. Groaning slightly, the billionaire nodded, finally getting out of her lab chair and looking at the sphere. "I'll be back later," she whispered, finally leaving her lab.

When she arrived back at her dorm Beca didn't even have to use the key. An angry Chloe opened the door, and she looked ready to yell. Yet, just as words were about to spill from her mouth the red head's expression softened, and worry creased her brow. "Beca! You look like you haven't slept in days!" The billionaire smiled, slowly trudging into the dorm room. "That's probably because the last sleep I got was only for two hours."

"Get in here!" her eyes were constantly closing and her head drooping every several seconds. Beca didn't even make it to the couch bed before collapsing to her knees. Luckily, Chloe was there to hold her up. "Beca, you have officially spent way too much time in the lab."

Before she could say another word the assassin helped her into bed, forcing her to lie down and scooting in with her. A small sigh of appreciation left the brunette's lips as Chloe wrapped her arms around her middle and pulled the blanket around them both. "Chloe..." the billionaire's eyes were already closed, and her head resting in the crook of Chloe's neck.

"What is it, Beca?" she felt a kiss placed to the top of her head, and her lips curled into a smile. "I found out what the artifact does." Chloe's chest heaved in a sigh, and as the red head's fingers trailed through her chocolate tresses the DJ found herself almost slipping into slumber. "You can tell me about it when you wake up."

As much as she wanted to keep talking, Beca knew sleep was creeping it's way in. "I know you were looking on my computer," the girl mumbled, burying her face further into the red head's shoulder. "I'm going to change the password." Chloe laughed, and the brunette couldn't help but smile with her. "I'll hack my way in again, you know I will."

"Maybe there's no point in..." Chloe looked down at the brunette, who had fallen into deep slumber. Rolling her eyes, she placed another kiss to the billionaire's head. In her sleep, Beca's hand moved to rest over her stomach, and the red head smiled. Carefully, she reached down and took the girl's hand in her own, intertwining their fingers. To say she was worried about the billionaire while she was spending days in her lab was an understatement.

She didn't hear from Beca the entire time. The only way she knew the brunette was all right was through Jarvis. Even then, Chloe had half a mind to barge into the lab and demand answers. Though, keeping their relationship a secret would be rather difficult after that. With a sigh, the red head buried her face into Beca's hair and closed her eyes, joining Beca in peaceful sleep.


	8. New Insight

The billionaire flexed the fingers of the glove of her suit, making sure they worked properly. She knew they would eventually be leaving Barden again, and her suit had to be fully functional before that happened. With a sigh, she took the glove off and placed it back on the suit, certain that it was fine.

That blue sphere still hovered over her desk, bobbing up and down, refusing to rest on the white surface. Its blue glow was still bright, and it seemed to be fairly happy. Beca had decided to give it the name Riley to go with its personality. "You're a strange artifact, you know that?" Looking over, she sees the stare Benji is giving her.

After raising her eyebrow at him, Benji quickly leaves the lab, allowing the two to be alone. Of course, the rest of the team would think she was insane for talking to a floating sphere without doing it themselves. They didn't believe her story of the sphere giving her visions, and Fury insisted she do more tests on the artifact. However, whenever the brunette tried to place Riley in one of the testing machines, the sphere would laways just float out of the way. She'd tried to restrain it, but that had turned out to be much harder than she originally believed.

Riley was turning out to just be a little ball of trouble, but the billionaire didn't mind having him around. It was nice not to be alone all the time, even if you're only company was a floating blue sphere. She'd figured out Riley's communication, but she always had to have contact for him to show her visions. With a sigh she walked back to her desk, sitting in the chair and holding the sphere in her hand.

Its blue glow seemed brighter, and Beca couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. "Oh, so you like when I hold you but not Benji? That's a little rude don't you think?" Several days before, Benji had tried to hold the artifact and see a vision as Beca had described. Though, Riley didn't exactly want to show him anything, and ended up violently floating out of his hand and back to the brunette's side. Riley was anything but unbiased.

In a blink she was at the Stark Penthouse, but it was different. She still held the sphere and sat in her desk chair. The brunette sighed, knowing this was a vision, but it wasn't one of the past, because a head of red hair stood at the window next to a brown one. The two women turned around, and Beca saw the reflection of herself and Chloe.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" the red head whispered, leaning her head on Beca's shoulder. "I remember you saying something similar about snow. How many things do you think are beautiful?" The billionaire smirked, nudging the woman in the side. "I think a lot of things are beautiful, but I'm looking at the most beautiful thing in the world."

"And you call me a big softie," the two laughed, moving to the couch as they kissed each other. "You're not a softie, you're just not smart." At this, the brunette punched the older woman in the shoulder, then kissing the assassin's head and laughing. "My mind is greater than yours will ever be, Chloe, you'll just have to get used to it."

The two laughed, kissing each other once again before Chloe nestled close to the brunette's side, resting her head on Beca's shoulder. "I love all of you." With a blink, Beca realizes she's back in her lab, still holding Riley. "Oh, now you're just showing me stuff to make me happy." Riley's glow seemed brighter for a moment or two before it returned back to its original glimmer.

She sat in her chair, just staring at the ceiling. Riley had already revealed his ability to show visions of the past, present, and future. Considering that event hadn't happened yet and wasn't happening at the moment, Beca's only assumption could be that it was going to happen in the future. If they were going to be that happy in the future, Beca didn't mind the wait.

"You can show me who stole you, can't you?" the brunette said, looking down at the sphere. He didn't seem to make any reaction, causing a sigh from the billionaire. Unfortunately, Beca had to resort to more persuasion. "They might be trying to hurt earth, and in case you hadn't noticed, but I kind of like living here. So, if you can help me out I promise you'll stay right here in the lab."

Several moments passed, and she was about to give up. Turning her head Beca saw the walls were no longer white, but brown and stony. She was in a cave, that much she knew, but the problem was she had no idea what cave she was in. Riley was still in her hand, and as long as the brunette had him she knew this was a vision. Sneaking through the corridors of the cave, keeping her body to the stone walls until she found a circular entryway.

Beca stood, peering her head around the corner and seeing a map in the center of the room. A red dot was placed somewhere in the middle of Montana, and the brunette made a mental note of it before her attention was drawn back to the conversation taking place. "Everything is going according to plan, the master will be pleased."

The voice was deep and raspy, sounding very different from any human she'd ever heard. It was definitely alien, which didn't really surprise her. "They have the artifact. No doubt the new 'Avengers' will be coming soon. Are the soldiers ready?"

Whoever these things were, they knew about the Avengers and how they'd taken over for their parents. Someone had to have supplied them with that information, but who? Beca definitely didn't suspect anyone from the Avengers themselves, but SHIELD was supposed to be one of the most top secret organizations in the world. Obviously that statement was false.

"Some are sharpening their claws as we speak," Claws? These things had claws? Definitely not human. Beca sighed, shaking her head. What in the world had she gotten herself into? Maybe she should've listened to Tony when he said going into the Avengers was a bad idea. "We will have her mind, the mind needed to build the machine. Prepare the materials we will need."

Moving herself to be further around the corner, Beca found herself face to face with a pair of bright yellow eyes peering through the darkness. She stumbled backward, falling quickly and landing on the floor of her lab. Breathing heavily, she looked down at Riley in her hand. "You really know how to scare a person, you know that?"

Riley didn't respond, and Beca placed him back over the white table, letting him hover to his little sphere's content. Whatever that thing was, it did not look or sound friendly. Did SHIELD know what these things were? "Jarvis, get into SHIELD's database of aliens please?" Aliens, Beca? Is there something specific I'm looking for?"

"Anything with claws and yellow eyes, Jarvis, I don't have specifics on aliens. I prefer earth, thank you very much." Beca went over to the computer, watching as Jarvis pulled up twenty results from a list of aliens. "Unfortunately that seems to be the description of many different species." Beca sighed, banging her head on the desk several times before looking up at the screen. "I didn't get a good enough look to tell what it was."

"Perhaps when you see one of your aliens in real life you will have a better description to give SHIELD." The brunette scoffed, looking up at the ceiling and crossing her arms over her chest. "It's naive to hope that I won't have to see one, I guess." "Maybe a little bit, Beca."

Jarvis was always straightforward with her, much like Tony. He never beat around the bush, and if he had any advice it was given without hesitation. That was his programming, after all. However, once Beca had created programs of her own she'd managed to give Jarvis a whole new personality. He could be sarcastic and funny too, rather than just giving tips for building the technological creations of the century, as was her usual hobby.

Though, her hobbies had changed within the last several weeks. Rather than spending hours upon hours in her lab she would be spending time at Bellas practice or with Chloe. She didn't mind spending time with the red head, but after the lecture she'd gotten from Aubrey last practice it wasn't like Beca was enthusiastic about going to Bellas practice.

The blonde had basically given her one of the worst lectures she could ever remember. "You cost us the victory last night. Frankly, you shouldn't be in the Bellas at all. I told Ashley we should've disinvited you after SBT, but no, she wanted to give you a chance." At this point, Beca's only response was a roll of her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't want the Bellas to win a competition, Aubrey and Ashley were holding them back with the same boring set list that the Bellas had always done.

Of course it didn't cross the blonde's mind that any of it could be her fault. And she thought Beca was selfish. Though, unlike Aubrey, Beca truly didn't care about the labels that were applied to her. If people saw her as arrogant, well it wasn't like she could change their belief, and why would she want to? There were billions of people in the world, and only one's opinion actually mattered to her.

Since the failure at SBT, Aubrey had only pushed the Bellas harder and harder at practice. Frankly, Beca had enough of it one day and walked out. Chloe, of course, stayed at the practice, but Beca didn't see why. The two leaders were too stuck in their old ways, and it was going to ruin them. Why didn't anyone else see it? Or did they see it and not do anything about it? Either way, the billionaire was still annoyed by it.

"Beca," the brunette turned her head, seeing Benji in the door way. The boy wasn't wearing his lab coat, thank goodness. He'd come up to Beca one day saying he decided to stop wearing it because it looked silly. Silly wasn't quite the word Beca would've used, but at least he'd stopped wearing it. "They need you in the conference room."

She nodded, standing from her lab chair. "I'll be back eventually, Riley," knowing the sphere wouldn't respond, she quickly followed Benji to the conference room. Jesse, instead of his usual stare, actually smiled as she walked into the room. Aubrey, on the other hand, was still wearing her infamous glare. The girl was starting to think the blonde had created it especially for her. How sweet.

Stacie walked into the room, holding a remote. The lights quickly dimmed and a screen at the front of the room lit up. Beca was already intrigued. Had the tall brunette made them a little slide show for their mission? However sweet the action seemed, it was incredibly cheesy and not what Stacie had done at all. "Fury can't be here to supervise so I was instructed to instead."

"I had to cancel Bellas practice for this, so it had better be worth something," obviously that was what Aubrey worried about the most. She didn't worry about threats to earth or anything serious, but Bellas practice on the other hand, now that was life or death. "Relax, Aubrey, it should be well worth it. Stark, would you like to say anything about the artifact?"

"Well first off his name's Riley," the others stared at her. Aubrey's glare made her think the blonde thought she was crazy, while Jesse, Chloe, and Benji were smiling like idiots. "Second of all, I think it would be rude to say anything while he's not here. Isn't that gossip or something?"

From her left, she heard Chloe start to giggle, but before she could get a good look the red head turned her head. With a shrug, Beca looked back to Stacie. "Are you going to keep joking around or can we actually get down to business?" The brunette smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, I can do some stand up comedy if you like, or I've got a few good knock knock jokes if you're into that."

Looking over at the table, Jesse had his hand over his mouth, and his eyes screamed the smile that he wouldn't let his lips show. Well, what do you know? Jesse wasn't a complete power freak or old school guy, actually he was pretty cool. Except for the fact that he liked movies way too much. In Beca's not so humble opinion, movies were predictable.

"Stark," of course Beca knew she was making Stacie's job that much harder, but it was too good to resist. With a sigh, Beca stood from the chair. "Fine, fine." She stood, walking to the touch screen that was the wall and started moving around files until she came to a map of the United States.

"Earlier today, well, actually it was more like twenty minutes ago, Riley showed me something it-" "Did 'Riley' show you how horrible of a singing voice you have?" Aubrey interrupted, but the brunette just rolled her eyes and continued. "It was a cave, and inside it was a giant underground tunnel labyrinth. I'm not sure how it got there, but it definitely wasn't natural. When I got down enough into the cave there was a map with a dot," she moved to her own map, placing a dot over the exact longitude and latitude of the map she had seen in the cave.

"The cave's somewhere in Montana, but that's not the part that's important. There were voices down there. They talked about the Avengers and the fact that they knew our parents weren't the Avengers anymore. Hardly anyone outside of SHIELD knows that. Also, they talked about building a machine after having the mind to do it. They mentioned the artifact, and they definitely weren't human."

Aubrey seemed to perk up at the mention of 'not human'. Considering her father knew almost every creature there was to know in the universe, it wasn't surprising. "What kind of creatures?" Beca shrugged, "It was too dark to see down there, but it had yellow eyes and claws." The room was silent as Aubrey sighed and shook her head. "You just named a description of perhaps twenty different species."

"That's exactly what Jarvis said after going through SHIELD's files," she received a look from Stacie, and the taller brunette walked over to her. "Those files are classified." Beca put on her best pout, looking directly into the agent's eyes. "Whoops."

Benji laughed, and the entire room turned to look at him. His cheeks turned red and he quickly pretended to cough, but Beca still couldn't help the smile on her face. It seemed as if everyone had gotten used to her and was actually giving her a chance. Well, everyone except Aubrey, but that wasn't exactly a shock.

"So, what's the plan, Avengers?" Stacie asked, looking to the team like they weren't a bunch of college students, but actual superheroes. Usually it was Fury who made the plans and the assignments, and that got Beca thinking. Maybe Fury wasn't there on purpose. Was this some type of test? Beca hated tests, usually because they were boring and she knew everything on them and exactly how to get the best grades, but this was different.

Fury wasn't the type of person to play games, but this game was incredibly deceptive, the very kind Beca liked best. It made her think, and it challenged her mind the way school never did. However, the point of this game wasn't just winning, it was saving the world.

"We can leave tonight," Jesse said, "Get to Montana in the morning and start searching for the cave then." Everyone nodded, except for, guess who? Aubrey. The blonde slammed her fist onto the table and stood, causing a scene and of course, everyone turned to look at her.

"We can't leave tonight!" she exclaimed, looking at the rest of the Avengers like they were complete idiots. "The Riff Off is tonight, and if we're not there with the Bellas and Trebles people will know something isn't right." Oh great, something involving the Bellas and Trebles, this was exactly the kind of thing Beca wanted to hear. She would've rather taken twenty college exams simultaneously than do something having to do with the Barden Bellas.

Jesse nodded, taking the team mate's words into account, and obviously, they won him over. "You're right, people will start asking questions if we're all gone, and we can't create a lie that big without the school board possibly getting involved. We'll leave tomorrow morning after we've all had enough rest after the Riff Off."

How could he possibly be siding with her? Aubrey was the definition of evil, okay, maybe not the definition, but Beca thought she was pretty close. She was sacrificing an important mission, and for what? Some stupid college a cappella group. In twenty years they'd look back on these days and laugh at how stupid they were, or Aubrey would laugh at how stupid she thought everyone else was.

Then a thought crossed Beca's mind, and as the brunette moved to sit back in her seat she crossed her arms over her chest. Her legs moved to rest on the table and she looked over at Jesse, raising her eyebrow. She could feel Chloe's eyes on her, but her mind was thinking too quickly to completely register it. "What the hell is a Riff Off?"


	9. Beautiful Things

The brunette grumbled, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. It was almost freezing outside. Whoever decided to have this Riff Off outside was an idiot, and Beca would make sure someday they paid the price. This ridiculous college a capella competition was nothing but a nuisance to her, and it was keeping the billionaire from more important things like actually making music and important adjustments to her suit.

Chloe was walking at her side, but the red head didn't seem bothered by the cold. Maybe she'd been on assignments where the weather was much worse than it was, but Beca didn't care if the assassin had been to Siberia. She was cold, and she wasn't going to be quiet about it. "Why do people even bother going outside, in the cold, not to mention in the middle of the night?" She shook her head, shivering slightly. "I swear, if idiocy were removed from the world it would be a much better place."

The red head rolled her eyes, and before the brunette knew what was happening Chloe's lips were on her cheek. She blushed, and as Chloe pulled away a smile crossed her lips. "Better now?" the assassin asked, tilting her head to the side and linking her arm with the billionaire's. Beca could only smile, nodding slightly. "Much, but I think you should do it again."

"We're too close to everyone else. It would draw too much attention." Sometimes the whole 'keeping the relationship a secret' thing would get on Beca's last nerve. She'd decided her sexuality years ago, and Tony didn't have a complaint about it either. If she wasn't able to kiss Chloe in public then what was the point of the relationship?

However, the brunette knew how ridiculously selfish it was to think that way. Of course, she guessed Chloe wasn't exactly loving the fact their relationship had to be a secret, but it wasn't for them, it was for the team, the Avengers. If just being quiet about the relationship was all they had to do, then Beca was going to make sure they did a good job at it. So far, it had worked out pretty well.

The other Bellas were talking, but Aubrey and Ashley looked nervous. What? Were they not ready for the Riff Off or something? In front of the Bellas, Beca saw a face she never thought she'd see. "Fury?" she asked, and the African American woman turned around. "Shh! It's just Cynthia Rose!" Weird, during every practice Beca had ever been to not once had Fury been there. One of the many perks of being director of SHIELD.

An alarm sounded, or rather, a vocal alarm made by the BU Harmonics, and the guy leading the Riff Off, whose name wasn't really important, so Beca just decided to call him Riff Off guy in her head, walked into the center of the empty pool. "Welcome to the Riff Off!" Most cheered, but the billionaire just remained in her spot in the back of the Bellas, standing next to Chloe.

"The rules of the Riff Off are as follows: You must join in a song using the word of the previous song, if you mess up you are," everyone joined in clapping their hands. "Cut off!" Once again, Riff Off guy started talking. "If you can't think of a song you are cut off! And most importantly, if you suck you are cut off!"

He pointed what looked to be a flashlight at the wall, but as the image came to the side of the pool Beca saw the spinning wheel of categories. It was a fairly decent looking model, but the brunette had no doubt she could build one a million times better than that silly old thing. "And our first category is: ladies of the eighties!"

Aubrey began to run into the middle of the pool, but was too late as she was cut off by the Treble named Bumper, who started stomping his foot on the ground to create a beat. "Oh Mickie you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickie Hey, hey, hey Mickie!. Oh Mickie you're so fine-" He was cut off by a member of the BU Harmonics.

"You're so fine, and you're mine. I'll be yours 'til the end up time 'cause you make me feel. Yeah, you make me feel, so shiny and new." At this point, the entire a capella group had created the background music, and frankly, the competition wasn't as boring as Beca originally thought it would be. It seemed rather interesting, but ladies of the eighties wasn't the best category to join into, so Beca decided to wait for another category.

Pulling the billionaire from her thoughts, Aubrey walked into the center of the pool, interrupting the fabulous performance from the BU Harmonics by sining. "Like the one in me, that's okay. Let's see how you do it. Put up your dukes," the other Bellas including Beca, not that she'd ever admit it when asked directly, began to sing. "Let's get down to it! Hit me with your best shot! Why don't you hit me with your best shot? Hit me with your best shot! Fire away-"

One of the members of the High Notes began to sing, and seeing as she was unspeakably high, her singing wasn't even on key with the song. "Away... it must have been love... but it's over now..." Riff Off guy cut in, stopping the stoned woman from singing. "The side effects of medical marijuana folks. You are..." everyone joined in, "Cut off!"

Beca smiled at the Trebles, looking around the empty pool at the audience who was simply sitting there watching them compete. Did they not have anything better to do? Well, at least it was entertaining, or it would be once the brunette had a chance to sing.

"And our next category is," he paused, waiting for the wheel to stop. "Songs about sex." Aubrey looked at her fellow Bellas, and Beca swore she heard the blonde mutter, "Sex?" The blonde was obviously not a woman of experience, neither was Beca, but again, not something she'd admit. The brunette watched a Treble start walking into the middle, but then the most unexpected thing happened. Beca would have never guessed it... ever.

Fury walked into the middle of the pool singing Rihanna! "Na na na come on! Na na na na na come on, come on, come on!" Stacie walked to Cynthia Rose, facing away from the African American woman as they began to do one of the most scandalous grinding dances Beca had ever seen. "'Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it. Sex in the air, I don't care I love the smell of it. Sticks and stones my break my bones but chains and whips excite me."

A Treble walked up to them, but by this point Beca was just looking at Chloe. As he interrupted Stacie and Cynthia Rose, Beca could see the disappointment in Fury's eyes, it actually looked like she wanted to sing. Aubrey walked over to Stacie, who was standing in front of the Treble, practically flirting with him. "Wait, I have one," she heard the taller brunette say.

Stacie walked back over to them, stopping the Treble, who she was surprisingly taller than, and began singing. "Baby, all through the night I'll make love to you," Fat Amy joined in to harmonize with her. "Like you want me to, and I-"

Jesse cut into their song, much to the two women's disappointment. "And I guess that's just the woman in you, that brings out the man in me. I know I can't help myself. You're all in the world to me!" He actually had a very good voice, another thing Beca hadn't expected to see. Though, she saw Benji standnig in the back of the group, too shy to go out and sing. Maybe she'd teach him a thing or two. "It feels like the first time! It feels like the very first time! It feels like the first time!"

Beca ran into the middle of the pool, cutting Jesse off with a rap. "It's going down, fade to blackstreet the homies got RB. Collab creations, bump like achne. No doubt, I put it down never slouch. As long as my credit could vouch, a dog couldn't catch me. Straight up! Tell me who can stop when Dre making moves, attractin' honeys like a magnet. Givin' 'em eargasms with my mellow accent. Still movin' this flavor with the homies Black Street and Teddy," she paused, looking back at her fellow Bellas. "The original rump shakers."

None of them had any idea what she was singing. Seriously? None of them. The brunette looked back to the Trebles, especially to Jesse who was nodding. "Keep going," she heard him say, and shrugged exasperatedly. "Shorty get down, good Lord. Baby got 'em open all over town." As she heard another voice join her, Beca turned around to see Fat Amy walking towards her. "Strictly biz she don't play around, cover much ground, got game by the pound."

Frankly, she sounded better in the empty pool with the acoustics than she ever had singing this song to herself. She watched as the rest of the Bellas joined in, creating the beat she needed. "Gettin' paid is her forte, each and every day to play away. I can't get her out of my mind. I think about the girl all the time." Her eyes were attached to Chloe's as they sang, and Beca saw the tiny smile on the red head's lips as she continued.

"I like the way you work it," and the Bellas responded, finally singing like a team. "No Diggity." She smiled, nodding her head to the beat they'd created. The brunette winked to Chloe, and saw the red creeping up her girlfriend's cheeks. "I gotta bag it up, baby! I like the way you work it! I gotta bag it up." The BU Harmonics joined in on their beat, and as she sang the brunette walked around the pool, seeing how many people were dancing and joining into the song.

This was what a cappella should've been about, it was what music was about. Making music to the point where people wanted to join in and sing had always been Beca's dream, and now that she was getting to do it, well, it was a feeling she wouldn't forget anytime soon. Looking over at Aubrey, Beca saw she was very awkward with the song, and that only made the moment even sweeter.

Walking back into the middle of the Bellas she started the final part. "I gotta bag it up. We out!" The entire crowd cheered, and even some of the Trebles started clapping, Jesse especially. "It's a tough blow, laides," Beca raised her eyebrow, looking at him with a glare in her eyes that could've easily killed someone. "but the word you needed to match was 'it' and you sang 'it's'. Our winners are the Treblemakers!"

The boys cheered, and Beca couldn't help but stare at the Riff Off guy. They'd obviously paid him off, and as she was about to tackle him Beca felt Chloe's arms wrap around her waist. "It's not worth it," the red head whispered in her ear. "Let it go. Like you said, it's just a stupid a cappella competition." The asassin's words managed to calm her down, and she walked back to her fellow Bellas.

"For next practice I want everyone to write about what they did wrong," even when they'd done something amazing Aubrey was still giving them a lecture about how awful it had been. "Guys, what we did was awesome! It was spontaneous." Aubrey just rolled her eyes, putting her arm into the middle of the circle of girls. "Ah, on my count." Oh boy, here they went again with trying to do the infamous 'ah' thing.

What was supposed to happen was the leaders of the Bellas counted to three and everyone sang ah, letting their hands glide out of the circle dainty like and stuff like that. Since joining the Bellas, Beca had never seen it done. They couldn't seem to get it right. "On three or after three?" Stacie asked, earning a response from Fury. "On three." However, somebody else replied. "After three." Eventually they just decided to give up on the idea and go home, but before she could make the long walk back to her dorm a hand tapped her shoulder.

The billionaire turned to see Jesse smiling at her, nodding his head while his hands were shoved into his grey jacket pockets. "Hey," he said, strangely not looking at her without the infamous stare that said 'shut up'. "You guys were really amazing. I didn't know you could sing like that." Beca just shrugged. "I didn't know you could sing like that either."

"You must be pretty weirded out that I'm talking to you right now, right?" Did Jesse Rogers actually just say 'weirded out'? Maybe he wasn't as old fashioned as she thought. "A little bit. Why are you talking to me, anyway?" Jesse rolled his eyes, smiling slightly. "Look, Aubrey thinks your arrogant, self conceited, idiotic, ignorant, and plenty of other things that I probably shouldn't say to your face."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" she smirked slightly and shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't bother me." Jesse shook his head, frowning slightly. "Well, it bothers me. I didn't actually take the time to know what you were like before I made some pretty harsh judgment, and I'm sorry for that." Beca smiled softly, surprised that the guy was apologizing at all. "We're both pretty guilty on that charge, Jesse."

"Then how about we let it slide?" Wow, Jesse was getting even more lame as the seconds drew on. "Let's have a truce, and we won't be so rude to each other." Jesse held out his hand, and that was the moment Beca learned chivalry wasn't entirely dead. She took his hand and shook it, "Truce." Things were going especially well, and as Jesse left with a quiet goodbye she could finally make her way back to her dorm.

Though, before she left, the brunette made a point to find Benji, who was standing in the corner of the empty pool. "Hey, Benji," she said gently, pulling the boy from his thoughts. "Oh, hey, Beca." He smiled, nodding his head. "You were amazing, by the way." The brunette sarcastically fliped her hair. "I guess it's just a part of my charm."

They laughed, and Beca raised her eyebrow at him. "Why didn't you jump into a song, Benji? From the way you sing in the lab I know you're good, so don't even try to deny it." His cheeks turned red, and his eyes moved to the ground. "I don't know, everyone jumped in before I had a chance, so I figured I'd just stay in the back." She sighed, shaking her head at him. "Well, if you don't get out there soon enough you're going to get left behind, Big guy. Jump out there every once in a while. It's a lot more fun than you think."

With that, the billionaire turned her back on him, walking across the quad's sidewalk to get back to her dorm. Though, she stopped, and looked at the sky as she felt something cold hit the back of her hand. Looking down, she saw a snowflake melting onto her skin. Her breath created steam in the air, and the brunette couldn't help the smile on her face.

Even when she was a kid, Beca had loved the snow. Pepper used to take her sledding, and those were some of the greatest moments of her life. Her mother forced Tony to go along with them and, even though the man wouldn't admit it, they'd all had fun on those days. She felt arms wrap around her waist, and a gentle kiss was pressed to her neck.

Turning her head, she saw Chloe standing behind her. Beca laughed softly and allowed herself to lean into the red head's warmth. She kissed Chloe's cheek, watching the assassin smile in response. The moment seemed absolutely perfect. It was just the two of them standing in the middle of darkness as snow fell around them. Peaceful was exactly the word to describe it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Chloe asked, and after looking at the red head's eyes Beca lifted her head towards the sky, blinking as snowflakes landed on her eye lashes. The ground around them was beginning to turn from green to white, improving the already attractive quad. The snow only seemed to fall faster, and Beca knew if she didn't get inside soon she would freeze, but there was no place she would've rather been than in Chloe's arms, so not a single complaint came from her mouth.

"Yeah," she replied, looking over at the red head, who was also in awe of the snow. "But there are more beautiful things." Chloe smiled, looking at her and quirking an eyebrow. Frankly, Beca couldn't help the thought of how adorable she looked. "Oh really?" Chloe asked, moving to be in front of the brunette and pressing their foreheads together. "Like what?"

Chloe's breath spilled onto her cheeks, warming them up and turning them to an even redder shade than they already were. Beca rolled her eyes at what she was about to say. Chloe was right, she had become a big softie. Though, she wasn't totally soft, she still had her armor, right? Not the point of what was happening, Beca took a moment to get her mind on track before staring into those beautiful blue eyes.

"You." The red head smiled, and Beca swore she could see tears forming in the woman's eyes. Before either of them could speak, Chloe closed the distance between them, bringing their lips together. Closing her eyes, the tranquility finally seemed to completely sink in. The brunette's body relaxed as Chloe's arms pulled her further into warmth. Physically the only thing connecting them was their lips, but they were more connected than anyone could've ever been. Beca wasn't going to let anything change that.


	10. After You

Morning came, and Beca woke to the sound of Chloe's heart beneath her ear. Their fingers intertwined over the red head's stomach, and a smile curled her lips. The night before had been amazing. She sat at her computer, working on a mix until Chloe had decided to sit in her lap, complaining she was still cold from their time in the snow. The brunette just smiled, sighing slightly and nestling further into Chloe's side.

"Looks like someone's awake," she heard the red head's voice, and moaned softly as Chloe's fingers began trailing through her chocolate locks. "Not entirely." The assassin laughed and kissed the top of the billionaire's head, which only made Beca's grin larger. "Jesse called, he says to come down to the conference room so we can leave in an hour."

"An hour?" the brunette laughed, slowly opening her eyes and leaning up to kiss the red head. "What are we supposed to do with a whole hour?" Chloe laughed, kissing her again. "I'm sure we'll think of something." The two had only ever had one date, and that was Beca's idea of 'wine and dine'. Honestly, this bothered Beca, not that she'd ever said so.

She wanted Chloe to experience the best parts of dating. After all, she was a billionaire, and the red head deserved every penny. Yet, they hadn't had time with their schedules. After her own stunt in spending several days in her lab, Bellas practices, and the Avengers mission, it wasn't as if having a personal life was really an option.

"What are you thinking about?" Chloe asked, gently massaging the brunette's scalp. Beca let out an appreciative moan, wishing she could shut her eyes once again. "The fact that I've never taken you on a real date." Beca sighed, shaking her head and looking over at the assassin. "I have billions of dollars, I create some of the greatest technology in the world, and my mind is one of the best in the world and I still haven't taken you on a real date." The red head smiled, holding the girl closer. "Well, tomorrow night, once we're back from looking in the cave and finding out what's going on you can take me on a date, okay?"

Beca smiled, nodding quickly. "I'd like that." Chloe smiled, kissing the billionaire again. "You're paying for dinner." The brunette laughed and shook her head slightly. "I surprisingly don't have a problem with that."

Their one little hour of paradise passed too quickly for either of their liking, especially Beca's. Her stomach churned with the most awful feeling. It was sickness or anything of the sort. She just had a bad feeling about something, but it was unclear what. With a sigh she walked into the conference room, barely paying attention until someone mentioned her flying to meet the helicopter in the air. Protocol or something.

Sitting in her lab, staring at the ceiling, she distantly heard a knock at the door. The brunette sat up to look at Jesse, all dressed up in his red, white, and blue suit. He had the shield in his hand, ready to go to the car, but his eyes were filled with worry. "You okay, Becaw?" She smiled, raising her eyebrow at him. "Becaw? What, am I a bird or something?"

"Well, you can definitely fly," Jesse laughed, walking into the lab and standing in front of the desk. His arms were crossed over his chest, well, as much as they could be while he was holding the shield. "You okay, Beca? You look distracted." The billionaire scoffed, leaning forward in her chair and looking up at him. "I'm fine, Jesse. I'll meet you in the helicopter."

Of course the leader wanted to keep talking, but Beca knew her stare was what shut him up. He left the room slowly, taking one more glance back at her before completely going out. Resting her head on the desk, Beca shut her eyes, listening to the voice leaving the speakers of the room.

"He is right, Beca," Jarvis said, but the girl didn't lift her head. "Something does seem to be bothering you." She sighed, shaking her head and walking over to her suit. "I have a really bad feeling about this, Jarvis." Looking at Riley, the sphere made no unusual movement or reaction. "Looks like you're not going to be of a lot of help today, are you?"

Chloe rode in the car, sitting next to Jesse. He'd seemed to be more reasonable for the past few days. One of the better things was that he wasn't being entirely rude to Beca. Of course, the first day he'd arrived that's what he said he wasn't going to do, but that wasn't entirely true. Eventually things turned out better for both him and the brunette, but Aubrey was still being very stubborn about Beca's role in the group.

The blonde still saw Beca as nothing more than a nuisance, which Chloe thought was impossible. That tiny billionaire had already stolen her way into the assassin's heart, and just thinking about her brought smile to Chloe's face. She looked to Benji, who simply stared out the window, unsurprisingly fidgeting with his fingers.

Getting into the helicopter, Jesse pulled her aside. "Chloe, I need to ask you something." She nodded, raising her eyebrow at him. He usually wasn't serious, or at least this serious. "Something's bothering Beca. I couldn't get her to open up about it, maybe you talked to her or something?"

They'd spoken about dating earlier in the morning, and it had been one of the best conversations Chloe had in her life, but after deciding to go out the next night Beca seemed fine. The assassin shook her head, her gaze turning to the ground, but immediately perking up as she heard Jesse's sigh. "You're worried about her too?" She nodded, "Look, Jesse, I don't really know what's wrong, but she looked distracted at the meeting this morning."

"I noticed that too. I talked to her but she said she was fine." He looked puzzled and confused, but it only had Chloe laughing softly. "You really expected her to just tell you what was bothering her?" Jesse shrugged, looking up at her. "It was worth a try."

The helicopter ride was quiet and awkward, only when they heard a quiet tapping noise from the outside did they jump. Luckily, they'd already put the earpieces in their ears. "Honey, I'm home," they heard Beca's voice, and Chloe couldn't help the smile on her face. Jesse walked over, opening the door and as the brunette walked into the aircraft she took off her helmet. "Wow it's quiet in here, I was expecting to hear more gossip over the radio. What's up with you?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Jesse said, closing the door behind her. "You're the one who said you found this cave in the first place." Beca shrugged, looking over her shoulder at him. "I didn't find it, Riley showed it to me." He shrugged, sitting back down in his seat. "Excuse me for excluding Riley. I'll apologize when we get back."

Beca laughed, and it brought a smile to Chloe's face to see her so happy. "I'll have to make sure he's okay with it first." After that, things were smooth sailing, or flying from there. Chloe leaned her head against the wall of the helicopter, and heard as Beca sat next to her. The suit of armor she wore wasn't exactly the quietest thing in the world.

"You okay, Red?" she asked, and Chloe turned her head to look at the brunette. Her dark blue eyes were filled with concern as she held the helmet under one of her arms. "I'm fine, Beca." She shrugged, smiling slightly. "You just look tired." "And you look distracted. What's up with you, Beca?"

Only a shrug came in response, and the assassin sighed. "You don't have to keep everything to yourself, you know?" Beca blinked, looking up at her and smiling slightly. "You have no idea." Chloe closed her eyes and leaned her head back again, shutting her eyes.

After feeling her shoulder being nudged and opening her eyes did she see Aubrey shaking her to wake up. Looking out the window, she saw the forests of Montana out of the cockpit's window. The team quietly exited the back, looking to Jesse for instructions, well, all except for Beca. Though, she didn't oppose to Jesse being the 'appointed' leader. "Beca, you fly around and try to find the cave. We'll keep looking on the ground."

Jumping into the air without a word, Beca immediately flew close to the cliffs nearby. "Seeing any cave entrances, Jarvis?" "You do have eyes, Beca, you could always look for them yourself." "Then what would your job be?" She laughed, looking along the cliffside as three entrances were highlighted on her screen. "Thank you, Jarvis."

Flying towards a cave entrance Beca walked inside, letting the eyes on her suit shine brighter in order to see. "This cave's too shallow, Jarvis." Without a word from the butler, another voice came on from the radio. "Beca, we found a cave that could be what you're looking for, but we need your help down here."

Beca smiled at Jesse's voice. The fact that he was asking her for help only made the moment sweet. She'd have to give a thank you to Riley when they got back to the lab. "Aye aye, captain!" The brunette flew down to the others, giving Jesse a salute. "Never fear, Titanium is here to save the day!" The team laughed, and Beca walked into the cave.

"Beca, there seem to be a myriad of tunnels," she looked around, walking further and further into the cave. "You sure, Jarvis?" "Yes, and there appears to be a fork in the tunnels just up ahead."

The stone was dark and brown, without the lights on her suit Beca was certain she would barely be able to see anything. It looked natural enough, but maybe that was the point. The billionaire walked out to the others, nodding her head. "It definitely looks like what I saw, but we'll have to go further in to be sure."

She looked over at Benji and sighed, "Maybe you should wait out here, Big Guy. Your friend won't fit in those tunnels." Jesse nodded, looking over at the other guy. "She's right. We don't want to risk the cave collapsing in on us, so it's best if you wait out here." "When the fighting starts, just run out here and I'll be ready for it."

The kid had determination, Beca had to admit. She watched the exchange between Chloe and Jesse as the red head gave their leader a flashlight. The red head stood next to her, and they walked into the cave, leaving Benji outside. "Good luck!" he called to them, watching as they disappeared into the darkness.

"Can you see all right?" Beca asked, looking at the red head out of the corner of her screen. Chloe laughed, nodding slightly. "Yes, Beca, I can see fine. The lights are bright enough." The fork in chasms came sooner than the brunette had originally thought. Jesse sighed, walking to the front of the group and staring at the tunnels.

"Aubrey and I will take the right. Chloe, you and Beca take the left. Make sure to keep in touch with us so we know you're all right." The billionaire nodded, leading Chloe down the tunnel. The only light leading them through the tunnels were coming from Beca's suit. For the brunette, it wasn't difficult to see, but she couldn't exactly speak for Chloe.

"What exactly are we looking for Beca?" Jesse's voice came through the radio, and Beca put a hand on the stone walls. "A room with a map and anything with yellow eyes." Aubrey's laugh came from the other side of communications, and Beca couldn't help but roll her eyes. "That's all you saw? You're not giving us much to look for."

"It's all I saw! You'll have to deal with it!" Chloe walked to be in front of her, giving the billionaire a stern look. With a sigh Beca just kept walking, making sure to keep an eye out. A shadow moved across the wall, and Beca immediately aimed the repulsor in her hand. She heard a giggle behind her, and turned to look at Chloe. "It was just my shadow, Beca."

Feeling pretty ridiculous, the brunette lowered her hand back to her side and kept walking, not uttering a single word to the still smiling red head. Something wasn't right about the cave, she wasn't sure how she could tell, but her gut was definitely sending bad signals about the place. "What was that?" Chloe asked, but Beca just shook her head. "Oh no, I'm not falling for that one, Red."

"No, seriously! Beca it just moved!" Hearing the fright in Chloe's voice made Beca give the idea another chance. She looked forward, aiming her repulsor in front of her again. "Stay behind me," the assassin scoffed behind her, pulling the gun from her waist. "I can take care of myself."

Turning back to look at Chloe, Beca shook her head. "Whatever these things are you can shoot them, but if you get hit it'll be easier for you to get hurt than me." Chloe's incredulous expression seems to soften, and the brunette sighs. "Please, Chloe. Stay behind me." The red head nods and moves back several steps behind the armored billionaire. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Beca nods, turning to face front. Both repulsors are being held out in front of her, and she's definitely on her guard. Anything could be in the cave, and it could hurt Chloe. She wasn't about to let that happen. Beca jumped, hearing a growl echo through the walls of the cave. "What was that?" she asked through the radio, hearing Jesse's voice on the other end.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good. Beca, I need you to tell me exactly what you heard and saw in that vision," he was worried, even if he was trying to hide it. "I eavesdropped on a conversation, whoever or whatever they were talked about having a mind to build a machine and-"

"Did you see the machine?" Aubrey asked, interrupting the brunette to which Beca replied with a sigh. "No, I didn't see the machine, but whatever it is doesn't sound good. "What else did you hear?" Jesse asked, and Chloe flinched from behind her. "You okay, Chloe?" The red head laughed slightly, sighing and putting a hand to her chest. "Yeah, fine."

It wasn't entirely believable, but Beca continued the story."Well, they talked about not having a mind smart enough to build the machine. They said they knew we had the artifact and we'd be there soon, bringing her with us." Silence came from the other end, and Beca was about to ask where he was when Jesse's voice came again.

"Wait... her?" the blonde's voice came through the radio, and Beca's sinking feeling only got worse. "Oh no." Chloe's voice sounded, but the brunette barely registered it through her thoughts. "Beca, they're not after the artifact anymore..." Another growl came from their tunnel. Beca aimed her repulsors, hoping she wouldn't have to hear what Jesse would say next.

"They're after you."


	11. Changes

"It makes sense," the brunette murmured, clearing her throat to bring back her voice. "Riley wasn't trying to tell me to come here, he was trying to tell me to stay away." Looking over at the red head, Beca saw the fear in Chloe's blue eyes. "We're going to be fine. Just keep you're guard up, and everything will be fine." Jesse didn't sound too confident in the statement, but Beca knew disputing it would only cause more problems.

Something turned the corner, with very sharp teeth and claws. On impulse, Beca fired her repulsor, knocking it deeper into the tunnels. "What was that?" Chloe yelled, and as Beca shone her lights on the creature it was very visible.

"It appears to be some form of reptillien species, Beca," Jarvis spoke, and her computer screen assessing the physical form of the creature. "It has sharp teeth and claws, and it's scales appear to be particularly protective. It's eyes are yellow, Beca, it appears to be the same creature you saw in your vision."

"Jesse, do you see any of these things?" More seemed to pile into the tunnel, and Beca kept shooting as fast as she could. The sound of a pistol firing came from her right, and seeing Chloe shoot at the creatures only increased her confidence. Maybe they had a chance of winning, but the math seemed to pour through Beca's mind. If anymore of these things came they would have to get out of there fast. "No, there's no creature where we are. That's probably because they're after you Beca."

"We don't stand a chance in these caves," the brunette looked over to Chloe, who was reloading her weapons. The lizards were piling into the tunnel faster than Beca could keep shooting alone. One managed to fight it's way through the repulsors and tackle Beca to the ground. "Move, Red!" Beca yelled, tossing the lizard off of her and slamming into the wall. "Run! I'm right behind you!"

The assassin took off, and Beca ran on her heels, occasionally stopping to shoot the lizards with repulsors. "Beca, perhaps if you block the path," Jarvis suggested, but before Beca could actually respond a lizard scratched at her suit. She thrusted her elbow into its stomach, where there wasn't many scales protecting it. The creature doubled over, and Beca took the chance to throw it into one of the stone walls. "Not going to happen, we don't know how strong this cave is and it could collapse on all of us if we try it."

She tried to run again, but a lizard jumped on top of her, pinning her to the ground. It roared, spit flying onto the mask of her suit. "Gross." Beca shot a beam from her chest, effectively getting the lizard off of her, but more were coming behind it. "Everyone get outside! Benji be ready to jump into action!" Jesse's voice kept coming through the radio, and in the distance Beca could see Chloe running, but the red head stopped to look at her. "Beca, come on!"

"Keep going! I'll be fine!" More of these things were coming, and if they got anywhere near Chloe they would eat her alive. Considering how sharp the teeth on these things were, Beca had no doubt they would leave a mark if they bit her suit. "Go!" Chloe began running again, and soon enough she was out of Beca's sight.

Following the orders of the billionaire, Chloe ran until she reached the entrance of the cave, seeing Benji outside. The boy ran to her side, escorting her out of the darkness. Once outside, the red head rubbed her eyes to help her get used to the light. "Where's Jesse and Aubrey? Have they come out yet?" Benji shook his head, but lifted it towards the cave. "Chloe turned around and saw the two running out. Jesse looked around, his eyes searching the area in front of him.

"Where's Beca?" Immediately following his question they hear a grunt through their ear pieces, and the firing of Beca's repulsors in the distance. "Beca! What are you doing? Get out of there!" The brunette's breathing was heavy through the radio, and Chloe can't help but start to worry.

Why did she let Beca stay in there on her own? She should've stayed, should've helped. Instead, she'd followed Beca's orders down to the letter, and she was safe, but her love wasn't. "Lizards are blocking my way out. I can't get through all of th- AAAH!"

"Beca!" Chloe yelled, looking at the entrance of the cave. The brunette's sigh came through the speaker, but it still sounded like the girl was fighting for her life. "Relax, I'm still fine. Go back to Barden! These things want my mind, they're not going to kill me."

Jesse shook his head, standing beside the red head and staring at the entrance of the cave. "No way, Beca, we're not leaving you behind!" Another cry of pain came from the earpiece, and it took all of Chloe's power not to run inside the cave and help her. "These things don't care if you live or die! They need my mind to help build their machine! Go!"

The team was about to protest, but Beca's voice came again. "Jarvis, cut the feed and the tracking device SHIELD implanted in my suit. Turn them off." "Beca, are you crazy?" Chloe yelled, pacing and kicking a tree. "I told you not to do anything stupid!"

"Are you certain?" Jarvis' voice came through the speaker. "Beca-" "Do it!" All too quickly, the sounds of growling and battle fell into silence. Chloe stopped dead in her tracks, holding the ear piece closer to her ear. "Beca? Beca, answer me!" Jesse looked at her, shaking his head.

Without another thought, Chloe started running to the entrance of the cave, not caring that the other Avengers were chasing her. Arms wrapped around her waist, wrenching her away from the cave's entrance and back to the forest. Roars continued to come from the cave, and they only seemed to be coming closer. "Chloe! Calm down! We need to get back to the helicopter! We'll be safer there than out here!"

"She won't be!" Chloe yelled, looking up at him through angry eyes. She could feel tears burning, and she still struggled against his hold on her. "She's still in there and she could be dead by tomorrow!" Benji walked over to them, looking into Chloe's eyes. "Beca was right, Chloe, they're not going to kill her. They need her too much for that. We'll all go in together in the morning and look for her, okay?"

His words seemed to calm her down. After all, Benji was the closest person to Beca besides Chloe herself. She could see the worry in his eyes, and it was obvious he wanted to go into the cave and search for her. The team couldn't risk losing another member, she understood that.

Chloe trudged back to the helicopter with Jesse walking behind her. She knew he was making sure she didn't run back into the cave. How could she have left Beca behind? It was only their second mission and it ended in utter failure. From the beginning her mother instructed to protect her team. She'd tried, but it wasn't enough.

Once the team arrived back at the helicopter Stacie opened the rear door for them. As soon as the team was inside the door closed. They were trapped, and Chloe's last chance of saving Beca slipped away. Looking over at Stacie, the red head saw the defeat in her eyes. Silence was thick in the air. No one spoke and no one moved from their seat. The defeat was sinking in.

They'd lost a friend in battle, but no one besides the billionaire had actually done any fighting. The Avengers were hardly a team, and without Beca's sarcastic humor the job seemed that much more painful with every passing second. Chloe pulled the ear piece from her ear, tossing it onto the floor. The morning had been so great, so fantastic, and the two had been so happy. Why did it have to go wrong?

Aubrey was sitting next to her, but something seemed off about the blonde. She wasn't as distraught as the other team members. In fact, it was almost like Aubrey was glad. Was that even possible? Beca could the dead and Aubrey had the nerve, the audacity to sit there and be happy?

"Why are you so worried about her?" Aubrey asked, and an astounded look made its way to Chloe's face. "All she's done is make our lives harder. Think about it, we wanted her gone and now she is." The way her girlfriend was being treated even when she wasn't around was awful. Girlfriend. It was a word Chloe hadn't thought about until that moment. It only brought more tears to the assassin's eyes. She didn't speak, her voice couldn't be trusted. Luckily, she wasn't the only one coming to Beca's defense.

"That's not true!" Benji yelled, receiving stares from the others as he stood from his seat. "You haven't given her a chance! You've given me more of a chance than Beca, and I'm more likely to kill you! I turn into a huge green monster and you have a problem with her attitude? Maybe you should take a look at yourself before you put all the blame on her!"

Jesse stood and put his arms around Benji's shoulders, shaking his head. The boy sat back down in his seat, not meeting Aubrey's eyes. He had a point, and Chloe knew it too. The blonde was being completely unfair to Beca and had been since day one. Yet, the entire time the team had been assembled Chloe hadn't come to her brunette's defense. What had she done? Why hadn't she been the girlfriend Beca deserved? She didn't even have the chance to tell the billionaire how much she loved her, and that chance may never come.

Their leader looked at them, and for the first time they looked to Jesse for guidance. He seemed to be the only one remotely calm about the situation. With Chloe and Benji being completely distraught, and Aubrey only seeing the loss as a casualty of war, it was up to him to find a way to bring the team back together. Chloe understood the job, but knew it must've been hard on Jesse. The billionaire and the soldier had made a good friendship over the past several days, and yet so soon after their truce were they torn apart.

"Tomorrow we'll go back into the cave and look for Beca," Jesse said, and the rest of the team nodded. "I don't know what we'll find or what we won't find. What I do know is that we're going to find her. We're not going to leave her with those things. No way are we abandoning her here. She's not a hassle in our lives. She's a friend, one of the greatest friends we may or may not have asked for.

"I know I wasn't a great person to Beca at first, but I see how much she adds to this team, to the Avengers. My dad always says that everyone deserves a second chance, but I didn't give her much of a first, and I'd really like to thank her for giving me a second one. We're going to find her, and no matter what other missions come our way and no matter what Fury says we're gonna bring her home safe and sound. What do you say, team?"

Chloe stood from her seat, a renewed vigor in her eyes. She nodded at their leader. "I'm in." It was all that needed to be said, and it brought a new shine to Jesse's eyes. He was finally assuming the role and all its responsibilities, and the team was letting him. "Me too." Benji stood from his seat and all eyes were on Aubrey. "I suppose we need her," still being stubborn, and just as Chloe thought they were done the soldier turned to the brunette in the pilot's chair.

"What about you, Stacie?" the brunette looked shocked as she pointed to herself with an arched brow. "Me? You want me to be..." she didn't finish her statement, but Jesse still nodded. "You're a big part of the team too. Where would we be without you piloting the helicopter and helping us get all of our gear together?"

"I guess you wouldn't be very far," the agent blushed, standing up and nodded. "I'm in, too." Finally, they were a real team, almost. Beca was still missing from the mix, but everyone knew the team wasn't completely formed yet. They still had one more member to find, to bring home. "So, Captain," Chloe said, pulling the soldier's eyes to her as he smiled. "What do we do?"

He nodded to her, a silent thank you. All she did was wink, just the way Beca would have. "First we get some sleep for tonight. Stacie, if you could turn off the lights around the helicopter, we don't need any tourists coming to look and see what's going on. Then in the morning we'll go into the cave, but we'll need a way to make sure we don't get lost in the caverns. Tomorrow we're not splitting up, we're staying together. No one else is leaving this team."

Everyone nodded in agreement, finding a place somewhat comfortable to rest. Stacie decided to stay in the pilot's chair, which apparently reclined, giving her an excellent place to sleep. Jesse took the other reclining co-pilot's seat next to her. Benji took up a row of seats on one side of the helicopter while Aubrey took up the other.

Which, unfortunately, excluded any place for the red head herself to sleep. "Oh, Chloe, if you want this chair I'll take the ground," she looked over to him, smiling slightly and shaking her head. "No thanks, I don't mind." Jesse stood, opening a compartment and pulling out a small mat and folded up blanket. "The heat should be on, and luckily SHIELD had the sense to put something for comfort in these things. So, I hope this'll be enough."

"Thanks, Jesse," the assassin smiled, helping him set up the mat on the floor. "for everything." He nodded, shrugging his shoulders as he stood, grabbing the last blanket from the compartment. "No man left behind, my dad may not have been a marine but that's always been his motto, and mine. Night, Chloe."

Morning broke, and the team hit the ground running. Stacie gave them all new ear pieces and helped Chloe reload her pistols, giving her several extra clips. Aubrey grabbed her hammer, obviously a gift from her father. Jesse had his shield, and Benji was just Benji, he didn't exactly need anything. "Stacie," the leader said, turning to the tall brunette. "Do you have anything that could help us not get lost?"

The brunette nodded, obviously glad to be of some help. "Yup," she pulled out a can that had a spray nozzle and a pair of goggles. "This spray is invisible to anything but these goggles, so just spray it in a way you'll know how to get back outside and put the goggles on. Presto, you're back out." It wasn't the best contraption, and Chloe was certain Beca could come up with something a million times better, but it was better than nothing.

"Let's move," they followed Jesse to the entrance of the cave, but he stopped. With a deep breath, Chloe prepared herself for the first. She had no idea what they would find in the cave, and it wasn't necessarily going to be good.

As they walked in, everyone turned on a flashlight. Jesse sprayed a sign on the ground, telling them which way they'd come in and they began walking through the cave. The leader held onto his shield and Chloe pointed her gun in front of them, just in case something nasty decided to pop out. The path they were taking was clear. It was the exact tunnel she and Beca had gone down the day before. Unlike yesterday, no growls came from deep within the cave.

Chloe remembered the cry of pain she'd heard Beca yell through her ear piece, and immediately awful thoughts flooded her mind. What if the brunette was dead? What if she was too late? It couldn't happen, could it? Beca wouldn't just leave her, especially not without a goodbye. Other people might think she would, but the assassin knew better than that.

She also knew better than to assume anything. Pushing all of the awful thoughts from her mind, Chloe focused on the mission at hand, and that was finding Beca. For hours they looked through the cave, hardly anyone saying a word. Jesse occasionally sprayed signs in order to lead them out, but other than that they didn't stop looking. "Avengers," Stacie's voice came through their ear pieces. "It's getting dark out here, you should call it quits for today. If you want to go back in tomorrow you can, but you shouldn't be in there in the dark."

"I don't think we'll need to come back tomorrow, Stacie," Jesse said, kneeling down to the ground. For a moment, Chloe couldn't see what he was looking at, but when the soldier turned at looked back at the rest of the team she couldn't help the gasp escaping her lips at what he held.

The helmet of Beca's suit was rested under his arm. The top part of the metal was dented inward, and other pieces of metal from the suit were scattered across the floor of the tunnel. "She's not here, and there's no blood." Jesse noted, nodding to his team. "This is good. It means she's alive."

"But if she's not here, where is she?"


	12. Since You've Been Gone

It was the first time Chloe woke in bed without Beca at her side. Mornings just didn't seem quite as bright without the brunette. Unfortunately, life went on, and after knowing the billionaire wasn't in the cave only made the team want to search more. However, they had Bellas and Trebles rehearsals for regionals. The red head knew Beca wouldn't find it very important, but she wanted the brunette to be there for the first real time they went on stage.

Of course, she knew Beca would hate it. There would be far too many people and noise. Chloe smiled at the thought. The brunette had objected to the idea of even participated in regionals. She, Aubrey, and Beca held a conversation about it. Beca complained if someone recognized her the Avengers Initiative was going to have to get a new base, but the blonde merely shut her down and forced the shorter girl into performing.

Thinking back on it, Chloe had actually found it hilarious, and when the brunette lost the argument she'd complained to the red head in her dorm. All Beca did was pace, mumbling about how she didn't want to be recognized by anyone. She didn't want the new reporters or the paparazzi on her doorstep, because if that happened it was only a matter of time before they found out the relationship going on between the two of them.

Chloe simply walked over to the girl, grabbing her shoulders gently and staring into her dark blue eyes. They were much like the ocean, sometimes peaceful but at other times swirling with maelstroms of emotion. It only made the billionaire more beautiful, and the assassin loved every second of it. "Well, if they do find out about our relationship I'll be glad to call you my girlfriend for the entire world to see," Beca had only looked at her with a raised eyebrow, shaking her head.

"You are possibly the most perfect girlfriend, Chloe. You know that?" Chloe only shrugged, placing a kiss to the brunette's cheek. "Well, you've certainly told me enough."

That was weeks ago, and now Chloe didn't wake to see the smile on Beca's face, or her beautiful eyes. It was like being on assignment, forced to spend your nights alone with little to no contact with her family. She thought of calling Natasha, and telling her mother of what happened, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

She couldn't bring herself to show weakness around her mother. Considering the master assassin's philosophy pretty much banned any sign of weakness, Chloe figured it was a bad idea. Of course, she needed someone to talk to, but didn't know who. Stacie wasn't exactly going to keep it a secret, and Benji would possibly tease Beca about it. Jesse, well, he was the leader of the team, and he would know about their relationship sooner or later.

No. Beca would be there when they decided to tell the rest of the Avengers how they felt about each other. Until then, Chloe was content with keeping the secret, but she wasn't happy about being alone. Forcing herself out of bed, the red head walked to her closet and chose something easy to wear. It wasn't like there was a reason for being dressed up. All she had to do was go to Bellas practice, and there was nothing really interesting about that.

Aubrey would be there, and all the other Bellas would be too. No doubt they would ask questions about the brunette's absence. Hopefully Aubrey would be able to come up with something clever, because Chloe couldn't handle the possibility of talking about Beca being gone. It wasn't something she was prepared to do, even if her assassin training had supposedly prepared her for anything.

She'd been taught to deal with the death of a friend, but Beca hadn't died. The billionaire was just lost, and all lost things could be found, right? Chloe knew it was a naive way of thinking, but it was the only way she could keep her head. Walking to Bellas practice was quiet and lonely, not something the red head was used to. The quad seemed less green as it usually did, the clouds not as white, and the sky not as blue. Without Beca, the world just wasn't as great as she remembered.

Going into the auditorium was interesting. Fat Amy had apparently decided she was the best beat boxer in the group, and was displaying her skills, or rather, lack of. Chloe heard something along the lines of "dogsandcatsanddogsandcats and BOOM! Whooshwhoosh wooosh explosions. All the animals are dead."

Her beat boxing was certainly something, that something just wasn't good. Aubrey ordered the Bellas to sit in their spots, and a several of the girls groaned as they sat in the uncomfortable plastic seats. "Hey, where's Beca?" one of them asked, causing Chloe to look directly at Aubrey.

"Beca has a," the blonde paused, folding her hands in front of her chest. "Family emergency. All we can do is hope she's all right and that she comes home safely." That was all she needed to say, and Chloe smiled at her words. She did care. Beca wasn't just a casualty of war or a nuisance. Aubrey really did see her as a person, and missed her just as much, well maybe a little less, as the red head.

Finally Aubrey was beginning to change her perspective, and it confused some of the other Bellas in the room, but not Chloe. She knew exactly what was going on, and throughout the entire practice that smile never left her face. Beca may not have been there, but the brunette still managed to make a difference in her life.

"Hi, Benji," she greeted the boy, walking into Beca's lab. As she expected, the place was a mess. Benji looked like he was still cleaning off the brunette's desk, and she couldn't help but smile. The place wasn't what she expected it to look like, but seeing two of the billionaire's suits on the wall, Chloe knew this was definitely a place Beca loved. "Hey, Chloe," he greeted, nodding slightly. "I'm still just moving some papers so I can get to work on the artifact and possibly finding Beca."

Chloe looked over to the sphere, which Beca for some reason named Riley. Its glow was, unlike the usual blue color, red. The assassin raised her eyebrows, tapping Benji's shoulder. "Doesn't Riley usually glow blue?" He lifted his head, raising his eyebrow as he walked over to it. "Yeah, he does. Blue's the color he always is when Beca's around. She says he has personality, and I'm starting to believe her."

"Yes," Jarvis' voice came through the speakers, "Beca has often spoken about the artifact's personality, but she doesn't know quite where it stems from." The fact Javis said 'knows' instead of 'knew' made the tiniest difference in adding to Chloe's joy. No one thought she was dead, and everyone missed her. She would come home safely, Chloe was certain of it. "Why is he glowing red? He's never done this before?"

Benji tried to take the sphere in his hands, but it simply floated away, escaping his grasp. With a sigh, the boy looked over to her with a shrug. "He's never particularly liked me, and he's always had a special bond with Beca. After all, she was the one he'd show the visions to." With a shrug, Chloe walked over to the artifact, tilting her head at it.

"Help us find Beca, okay?" she whispered to him, crossing her arms over her chest and giving Benji a sad look. "I'm just going to go, okay?" She couldn't stay in the lab, too many reminders of Beca showed through those plain white walls. Quickly, she made her way back to the dorm, slamming the door behind her.

How did she survive the entire day without Beca at her side? She never heard the brunette laugh, never saw her smile, or even heard a single sarcastic remark. Tears formed in Chloe's eyes, and the assassin didn't try to stop them. There was no point. They were going to come out sometime, better when she was alone than in front of the other Avengers.

Her knees gave out, and the red head slid to the floor. Her back still pressed against the door. She held her face in her hands, letting the sobs leave her body in horrid sounds. Eventually, she found herself lying on the carpeted floor withher eyes closed, trying to imagine what it would be like if Beca could see her.

It made her smile. Beca would probably think she was insane or needed help. The brunette always did everything in her power to make sure she was happy. The little things the billionaire seemed to make perfect always had Chloe in a smile. After several hours of simply lying on the floor, replaying memories of Beca she finally stood, knowing grieving and crying weren't going to do her any good.

The assassin walked to the billionaire's computer, typing in the password and smiling after seeing Beca didn't change it. Smiling, Chloe looked into a folder labeled 'Mixes', but what really caught her attention was the label 'Chloe' on one of the mixes. She put the brunette's headphones around her ears, pressing the play button on the laptop.

Only laughter left her lips for the short three minutes the mix lasted. It was a mix of Titanium and 500 Miles. Of course, Chloe heard both songs long ago, but with Beca's mastery at mixing the songs sounded better than the red head ever heard them before.

Thoughts of Beca were all that seemed to go through her mind. It wasn't as if it wasn't normal, but she was gone. There was no way to stop the thoughts by seeing her or hearing her voice. It was eating her alive not to know where Beca was. Everything just seemed wrong. Taking the headphones away from her ears, Chloe leaned back in the chair. There was always the possibility of talking to Jesse, but he wasn't the one she wanted to talk to.

She wanted Beca, she needed Beca. If only to hear her voice for a mere second, it was all she would need. She flopped onto Beca's bed, wrapping the blanket around her, trying to remember what it was like to have the brunette beside her. Nothing could compare to that feeling, and she would do anything to get it back.

Truthfully, the day wasn't going as the brunette hoped it would. These things weren't exactly the most generous of captors. She hadn't eaten for the past two days. Instead of being a reminder to eat, the rumbling of her stomach brought pain to her abdomen. Beca had no idea when she was going to be able to eat, but it didn't much matter if she was dead.

A black and blue bruise had already blossomed on her cheek and on her arm. Who knew how many wounds she would have by the end of her time, but it didn't matter. What really mattered was that Chloe was safe. She may be in pain, but no matter how many of her bones they broke, no matter how much of her blood they spilled, the red head wasn't feeling this pain.

The door to her chamber opened. Beca knew she wasn't in the cave in Montana, but considering she had been knocked unconscious the brunette had no idea where she was. This creature was different than any she'd seen. The others looked like lizards, or some form of humanoid version. The one in her vision was more of a snake.

If there was anything Beca hated most in the world, it was snakes. The way they moved wasn't natural, they camouflaged too well with their surroundings, and they were an angry bunch. This thing was probably the worst looking snake she'd ever seen. It looked a lot like a cobra, but it had legs. Its eyes were yellow with black slits in the middle, and its forked tongue occasionally slipped from its mouth.

Unfortunately, the thing that terrified her the most about this creature was the constant hissing it made when its forked tongue came out of its mouth. It walked closer to her, tilting its head and kneeling down to be on her level. "You are the mind meant to build thisss machine?" The girl rolled her eyes, not looking into his. "Well, I can't exactly be the judge of that. I don't really know what your machine is."

It laughed, tilting its head back and touching her chin with its clawed, scaled finger. She clenched her jaw, flinching as it laughed. "What'sss the matter? Afraid of me?" With a glare, Beca spit in its face, managing to get it straight in the eye.

The thing staggered backward, laughing slightly. "That wasss a missstake." It grabbed her neck, cutting off all oxygen. Her lungs burned, and she gasped for air. The more she struggled the tighter the things hold got. Black crawled in from the corner of her eyes, and Beca was fighting to stay awake.

She thought for certain the creature was going to kill her, but at the last moment the hand was pulled away. The brunette was left coughing, gasping for the air she so desperately needed. "I am Havak," it said, looking down at her and hissing as its tongue appeared from its mouth. "You are Misss Ssstark." The girl didn't answer, if it didn't get what it wanted she could stall for time, and time was exactly what she needed more of.

"Very well, Ssstark," Havak said, turning its back on her and allowing two lizards into the room. "You will talk sssoon enough." It left, and the billionaire knew what was coming next: pain.

Chloe watched the door in front of her open, and the first thing she saw was Jesse's frown. The soldier rubbed his eyes, shaking his head. "Chloe?" he asked, and the red head nodded through teared eyes. "What are you doing here?" She didn't respond at first, but knew it was only a matter of time before she broke down.

"I miss Beca," the red head whispered, tilting her head down at the ground. She felt his arm wrap around her, and she was drawn into the room. The soft click of the door came from behind her, and with a smile she saw Benji fast asleep on his bed. Jesse made a spot for her to sit on his bed, and sat beside her, leaning against the back wall. "I miss her so much."

"We all do," the soldier replied, sighing slightly and shaking his head to clear the haze. "That's not what I mean," she took a breath, looking at the ground slightly. "Jesse, Beca and I are-"

"Seeing each other?" Chloe lifted her head, staring at him with wide eyes. "You two were getting a little too close, I figured it was only a matter of time after Beca was taken that you'd break out of your shell. Don't worry, I won't say a word."

"Thank you," Chloe sighed, shaking her head and smiling. "How obvious is it?" Jesse shrugged, looking over at her. "I was looking for Beca to get close to someone, I just didn't think it would be you. Frankly, I didn't really think she'd get close to anyone. Trusting people doesn't exactly run in the Stark family."

"She hates it when people judge her because of that," Chloe muttered, making the leader nod. "I can understand it. People think I'm old school because of my dad, and sure we've watched a few old movies together, but other than that I'm a pretty cool guy?" The red head playfully raised her eyebrow at the world cool. "Okay, maybe I'm just a guy, but still, people make assumptions about us because of who are parents are. Don't tell me it hasn't happened to you."

The assassin nodded, sighing slightly. "People would always compare me to my mom or dad, but when I finally developed a style of my own it was always compared to my mother's since its a lot like hers. In reality I made that style of fighting my own, it's not hers, but mine." Jesse nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "I use the shield because I want to, not because it was my dad's weapon of choice. I guess we all don't know a lot about each other."

"No, we really don't," Chloe frowned, sighing and leaning back against the wall. "If you want, you can stay here, Chloe. I have an air mattress in my closet I can use and you can sleep up here." The red head smiled, shaking her head. "Jesse, you don't have to-"

"I want to," the soldier replied, standing and getting the air mattress out of the closet and setting in the middle of the floor, beginning to pump air into it. "You look like you don't want to be alone, so you can stay here with us for as long as you need." Chloe nodded, lying down on the bed and pulling the blanket around her. It wasn't the same as being with Beca, but the fact that Jesse was so willing to share his space with her was comforting.

They weren't just acting like a team, but like a family. They took care of each other when one was lost. Everyone pulled their fair share, and no one did anything purposely to upset anyone. Even Aubrey was beginning to see it. Closing her eyes, the assassin heard Jesse finish pumping the air mattress, but she was falling to far into slumber to keep her eyes open.

"See you in the morning, Chloe," the light by her head went out, and the soldier moved to lie on the air mattress. Though, he wouldn't flat out say it, the leader missed Beca. He missed her sarcasm and the way she would just disobey any order that came her way. It was refreshing, and though sometimes hard to deal with, it made the day seem better. They would get her back, and Jesse wouldn't stop until he found her.


	13. How Long Will It Take

Seven days after Beca's capture.

The brunette had received beatings throughout the week, and it was becoming hard to breathe. One or several of her ribs were cracked, and with every small breath pain erupted in her chest. Havak had only returned to her prison three times, and she was beginning to think they'd found someone better to build the machine. No, they couldn't have, if they did she'd be dead, and seeing as her heart was still very much beating she was definitely still alive.

Two of her fingers had nearly been dislocated, and if they tormented her shoulder any further she was certain the joint would pop from its socket. Leaning back in her chair, the billionaire knew she couldn't get out. The restraints were stainless steel, and without her suit it was completely imppossible.

Thinking of her suit, Beca became furious. They had no idea how long it took her to create that suit. It was her first, and all they'd done was destroy a beautiful piece of work. Of course, she had a back up suit, but seeing how strong these lizards were she was going to have to build a new one with reinforced armor. The repulsors were going to be taken up several notches, and every piece of artillery in that suit was going to be upgraded. Seeing as the suit was almost a year old, it was long overdue.

Her lip was still bleeding, and the brunette spit the blood from her mouth. Hissing laughter caused her to flinch, and when she looked up Havak had entered the room. His tan scales as frightening as ever, and his yellow eyes still shook her to the bone. Those two fangs and forked tongue the only things in his mouth, and when he laughed his head seemed to open like he had no jaw. Snakes were definitely not natural.

"Are you ready to talk Ssstark?" he asked, tilting his head and standing in front of her. "See, here's the problem with that," Beca laughed, shaking her head. "You haven't told me what you want to talk about. I mean, we could be talking about sandwiches or debating the meaning of life. You should really be a little more specific abou-"

She was interrupted by Havak backhanding her across the face, bringing more blood into her mouth. Spitting it to the floor, the brunette looked up at him with a glare. "Not exactly my fault, dude," Beca sighed, still having trouble breathing. "You have been very uncooperative, and sssince you don't ssseem to be reacting to my other sssoldiersss. I'll have to deal with you myssself."

Havak walked to be behind her, but the billionaire couldn't turn her head far enough around to see what he was doing. "Sssuch a niccce coat. What a wassste." Without time to react, she felt a sting in her back, actually, she felt about five different sings at once.

The pain dragged across her spine, and the brunette could feel the warm blood spilling down her back. She wasn't going to ask him to stop, begging would only bring him the satisfaction he wanted. There was no way she would give in. All she needed was time. No matter how scared she was Beca would pull through, for Chloe.

"Enough!" a voice yelled, and Beca looked up. Her eyes were tearing up from the pain, but seeing the blonde man in front of her made her bite the inside of her cheeks. She wouldn't let anyone see her cry, much less this guy. Havak removed his claws from her back, and the brunette let out a sigh of relief.

"Be glad he didn't decide to bite you," the man said, kneeling in front of her. "That venom will paralyze your heart within three hours earth time. You won't have enough time to call for help in here." Beca swallowed, looking him up and down. "Who are you?" she asked, her breathing labored from the pain.

"That's not really important right now," he replied, putting a hand on his cheek. She tried to move away, but he was stronger than her. Holding her face in place, he rubbed his thumb over her smooth skin. "Now, I'm going to let you get those scratches fixed up, and then you're going to help us build the machine. If you don't, I'll kill you, is that clear?"

"Fine, I'll help, but I don't exactly know what you're building," Beca replied, still glaring at him. "We'll get into that," he stood, looking at Havak. "Get her a medic to help her clean that off, then get her into the lab." The snake nodded, leaving the room and leaving them along. "By the way, I'm Luke."

When the man finally left a blonde haired woman took his place. It took a few moments to recognize her, but when she did, Beca couldn't help the widening of her eyes. "Ashley?" One of her own Bellas had been taken. He knew who she was, and he knew their cover. This definitely wasn't good. "Beca?" the girl asked, obviously scared out of her mind. "What's happening? Oh God, you're hurt."

"We're going to be okay," the brunette tried to reassure the co leader of the Bellas, but the blonde was having none of it. "I'm supposed to fix you, to help some injuries you just got. They gave me a first aid kit, whatever those things are, but I don't know what I'm doing!"

Tears marred her face, and Beca knew this girl wasn't prepared to deal with this. As much as the billionaire wanted to get up and help, the restraints were still in place. "Ashley, you're studying to go to medical school, right?" The blonde nodded, looking down at her. "You should know what to do, just trust what you learned in the class, okay? Don't worry about me. Whatever you have to do, do it. I'll be fine."

She nodded, moving to Beca's back and running her fingers alongside one of the gashes. Beca flinched, pulling away from Ashley, but she knew the girl needed the confidence to help her. With a sigh an after gritting her teeth, Beca relaxed into the chair, trying to make the pain of Ashely sewing some of the gashes in her back less painful.

"That's enough," Luke's voice came from the door, and Beca opened her eyes. The billionaire had bitten down on her lip so much it started bleeding again. What sick world did she live in where healing was more painful than the actual injury. "I'm not done yet," Ashley pleaded, but Havak walked into the room and dragged the blonde out by her hair. "Don't hurt her!"

Luke laughed at her, kneeling down to look her in the eye. "Do you really care? You're a sociopath just like your father. Arrogant and weak. You're just here to build the machine, not worry about stupid girls." "That girl has a life, and a family to go back to. If you're not concerned about that maybe you're the arrogant weak one."

Receiving another backhand to the face, she heard Luke's sigh. "When will you learn to shut up? Your sarcastic remarks will not help you." The man sighed, pacing in front of her. "My father always said you Avengers would be trouble?" This got Beca's attention, and she raised her eyebrow. "Who's you're father."

"You really believe I"m just going to tell you?" he asked, throwing his head back in laughter. "Are you sure you're one of the smartest people on this planet? If you are I feel bad for the rest of humanity." The brunette was released from her chair by Havak, and the first thing Beca did? She punched Havak in the stomach, resulting in him hissing at her and grabbing her wrists harshly enough to possibly break them.

"Massster, may I kill her now?" Luke sighed, obviously displeased with the way she was acting. Good. It wasn't her job to make sure he was happy, it was her job to stall for time. Time was the goal of the mission, and even if every single day she had to go through unspeakable pain, she would do it. "No, unfortunately we still need her. Just keep a close eye on her, I won't oppose to pain."

The creature laughed, and Beca couldn't help the way her breath hitched in her throat. Havak wasn't the best looking creature in the universe, nor was he the nicest. There was no escape from the misery she was about to go through, with a sigh Havak released her from the chair. Beca was dragged into a new room, and under her breath she muttered. "Fifteen."

Chloe's day hadn't been going much better. Bellas practice was horribly dull, especially without Beca's sarcasm to keep the group from getting bored. Also, Ashley was missing. Their co leader, who often kept Aubrey in check from being too controlling, was gone. The day seemed to be getting worse and worse, and there was nothing the red head could do to make it better.

During their small break Chloe sat in a corner, leaning her head against the black wall. Fat Amy came over, and after sitting next to her looked over at the assassin. "What's goin' on?" she asked, and the assassin shook her head. "I'm Aubrey's sister. I know all about the little base downstairs." Her voice was quiet, but Chloe wasn't positive no one could hear them. She shook her head at the larger Bella, but Amy didn't seem to get the message. "Where is everyone?"

"Fat Amy, don't get into something you won't be able to get out of," Chloe advised, and found herself wishing she'd taken her own advice. Though, if she had, the assassin would never have met Beca, and that wasn't something she'd trade for anything in the world.

"But Chloe, you're down like a dingo after I wrestled it. There's something wrong. I can help!" "Amy! Don't. Please." She could tell the larger Bella was about to say more, but Aubrey walked up behind her. "Amy, that's enough."

The younger blonde walked away, but Aubrey took her place. Couldn't anyone tell she wanted to be alone? The only person she wanted at her side was Beca, and she was possibly dead, so that wasn't working out so well. "I know I am the last person you want to be here."

"Then why are you here?" Chloe asked, turning to look at the blonde with only contempt in her eyes. "You're not Beca and you don't like her. So why are you here?" "Because you obviously need someone, and it's not like you've let anyone else help you."

With a sigh, the red head turned her gaze to the ground. Was she really just supposed to accept help from her? After everything she'd said and done to Beca? It was an interesting gesture, but could she really be trusted. Well, there was no better way to find out. "Maybe we could get coffee and simply talk," Aubrey suggested, and after a moment Chloe nodded. "Fine. We'll talk, but no bashing Beca, okay?"

"Those days are long gone," the blonde said, nodding her head and holding up her right hand. "Scout's honor, at least I think that's how the saying goes." Chloe couldn't help but smile, "After Bellas rehearsal, then?" The blonde nodded, winking and standing up to finish the rehearsal.

Eventually, rehearsal finally ended. As usual, it seemed to much longer without having Beca beside her. She missed constantly teasing Beca by wrapping her arms around the shorter girl and teaching her the dance moves. It wasn't that Beca couldn't dance, she just enjoyed the fun. Beca knew it was teasing, but even when they were alone the brunette never complained. In public the billionaire would simply reply that she knew what she was doing, never a true complaint.

Truth be told, this would be the first time Chloe truly went out after Beca's capture. She'd been holed up in the dorm, listening to the brunette's mixes. The music seemed to bring Beca back in her heart, and even though Beca wasn't actually there, a piece of her was. That music was a part of her, and now it was a part of the assassin too.

"Are you ready?" Aubrey's voice pulled the assassin from her thoughts and she replied with a slight nod. "Yeah, I'm ready." "You seem like you need a day out." She laughed, looking over at the blonde. "How could you tell?" Aubrey only shrugged, smiling and tilting her head. "I can tell these things about friends."

"So we're friends," it wasn't a question, but more of a statement. Chloe wasn't certain of it, but they seemed to be getting along since Beca left, ironically. "Yes we are."

They sat on a bench on the quad, looking out over the other students. Chloe took a sip of her coffee, still wishing Beca could be there with her. "It won't do you much good," the blonde's voice came from beside her, and Chloe looked over. "You're thinking about her and if she's dead. It's not doing you any good."

"Why do you care?" the assassin was harsher than she meant to be, but considering the circumstances, it wasn't going to be taken personally. "I'm trying to make my peace." Chloe could respect her intentions, but seeing as the person Aubrey needed to make peace with was captured, her peace wasn't working very well. "Peace only works if she's here."

"I know you miss her more than the rest of us, she's your roommate, but we're going to get her back." The red head glared at her, clenching her hand into a fist. "You think I don't know that? You actually think I don't know that? We're going to get her back, the question is do you want her back? Because last time we chatted, it sure sounded like you didn't." The blonde was taken aback, but managed to reply calmly. "Yes, I want her back, Chloe. She's a part of the team, and I do realize I was unfair to her. I'm sorry for that."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Chloe grumbled, but feeling Aubrey's hand on her shoulder calmed her down. "And I'll apologize to her when she returns, but for now she isn't here, and you are doing the same thing I did to her. You aren't giving me a chance." The assassin knew Aubrey was right, but she couldn't bring herself to truly trust the woman who didn't care if Beca was dead.

Still, Aubrey seemed to be making a change. For the first time the blonde seemed to actually care about the brunette's safety. "I'm sorry," it was mumbled, but the blonde seemed to get the message. "I'm still the one who should be apologizing, but we're both forgiven. Maybe now we can get a new start."

Chloe nodded, taking a sip of her coffee and smiling. "I'd like that." The two women sat side by side, continuing a lighter conversation before they parted ways. Christmas break was only in several weeks, and there was no way Beca was spending Christmas wherever she was. Chloe was going to bring her home, no matter what it took.


	14. Seeing Red

Twenty-one days after Beca's capture.

She'd been working on a piece of the machine for almost two weeks time. It wasn't the greatest experience of her life. Beca had been tortured and starved. Only twice a week did she receive food and water, but it was enough to keep her alive, frankly that was all the creatures needed. With a sigh, the brunette looked at the large chunk of metal, hooking the wires carefully. If things worked the way she wanted them to, as soon as the machine was activated those wires would cause a malfunction and the machine would explode.

It was quite genius, if she did say so herself. Beca worked on that plan for days and days. Convincing Havak she knew what she was doing wasn't easy, especially with him looking over her shoulder for hours at a time as she worked. The brunette could only hook the wires properly when he wasn't around, and it didn't happen very often.

Speak of the devil, Havak walked into the room with his scaled arms crossed over his chest. He walked behind Beca, looking down at the piece of machinery and raised what was supposed to be his eyebrow. "Are you sssure you're doing thisss correctly?" His forked tongue still scared her, but the fact that he had to draw out his 's' sounds made everything hilarious.

There were times when the creature would pause in his speech to think of a word that didn't have the letter s in it. Beca would try not to laugh every time, and when the slightest chuckle escaped her the girl would get a beating. Worth it or not, the act was still funny. She winced as Havak grabbed her arm, pushing her out of the way to look at the machine she'd been working on.

"What are thessse wiresss?" he asked, staring at her with those yellow, slit eyes. "They make the machine work." Beca explained in simplest terms, hoping the creature wasn't great with technology. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Havak grabbed her by the throat, a hiss resonating from his throat. "That isss not what they are. What isss the truth?" She gasped, clawing at his scaled hand, desperately trying to get oxygen. "I told you."

Her head was slammed against the wall, and black pooled in her vision, making it very difficult to see. "You are lying!" The girl's body couldn't take much more of the constant beatings. Havak would occasionally accuse her of lying and torture her for several hours, summoning Luke once he was finished to check the machine himself, only to find out she'd been truthful. Truthfully, Beca thought he only did that to torture her, just as he was now.

"What's all this about?" she hadn't been expecting either of them so soon, and her plan could be blown, no pun intended. It was Luke who walked into the room, and as he kneeled beside her the blonde man put a rough hand to the bruise that had sprouted on her cheek several days ago. She winced, not because she wanted to, but because it'd been hit so many times the pain was unbearable. "Do we really need to go through the entire torture routine again, love?" If only he weren't evil, that accent might be attractive.

"I didn't do anything," Beca muttered, keeping her face turned away from him. "That'sss a lie! Ssshe did sssomething to the wiresss!" The creature was obviously frustrated by his lack of an ability to say the letter 's', and proceeded to take his aggression out on her. One rule Luke had about torturing, there could be no broken bones in her arms or hands, she needed those to work on the machine.

Ironically, Havak had possibly broken a toe and possibly cracked one of her ribs. The pain was excruciating for the past several days, and Beca knew if she didn't get to a hospital soon the injuries would escalate into something much worse. "All right, all right, I'll take a look at them." Luke stood away from her, but Beca kept herself against the wall. It was her support, and were it taken away from her the girl was certain she'd fall straight to the ground.

He moved over to the piece of the machine she'd been working on, and immediately started laughing. "Look at what you've done, Beca." The man moved over to her, backhanding her across the face while laughing. "You're trying to destroy our machine, and that just won't do."

All Beca did was start laughing, looking up at him with a smirk. "Took you long enough to figure it out. It's no wonder you need me to help you build this thing." It earned her a kick in the abdomen, and pain exploded through her chest. She put a hand to the sight of the pain, trying to soothe it away. "This is just turning out to be a problem. Maybe I should kill you, but then I wouldn't get to kill your little Avenger friends.

"That's right. I know they'll come for you, I just don't know when. Yet, when they do come I'm ready for them. Besides, it's not like they'll find you in this place. There's nothing you can do to help yourself, so you might as well get comfortable and start working like you're supposed to."

"Following rules hasn't been my strong suit," her breathing was erratic, and when Luke grabbed her by the hair it didn't get much better. "Havak, take her down and do what you please. I don't care, just get her to fix this blasted machine."

Luke left, and Beca was left alone with a monster. The creature only laughed as he lifted her, throwing her into a wall. "Thisss isss the highlight of my day, Ssstark."

Chloe sat on her bed, listening to the sounds of Beca's mixes pounding through the walls. It had been three weeks. Three weeks without the brunette's humor, her smile, or her laugh. Everything about Beca was gone, and the red head's only reminder was her music. "Don't worry, Miss Barton, Beca will return soon." Jarvis was constantly having to reassure her. Even for a machine, it seemed like he cared about Beca just as much as she did.

A quiet knock at her door reached her ears. With a sigh Chloe stood, walking to the door and raising an eyebrow as she found Aubrey standing in the hall. "I thought you could use the company." The red head certainly didn't expect her to be so thoughtful, but it took several moments to decide if she actually wanted the blonde there. "Come in."

Frankly, watching Aubrey's eyes scan the room was disturbing. It was bad enough Beca wasn't in the room, now the blonde decided to come. Chloe was grateful for the company, but after spending days in that room it wasn't as if she wanted anyone else there besides Beca. What would the brunette say if she found Aubrey in the room? Most likely the billionaire would try to hide all her mixing equipment and laptop, keeping that life as far away from Aubrey as possible.

"Not exactly billionaire material is it?" the blonde asked, blatantly trying to decrease the tension in the room. Chloe only shrugged, closing Beca's laptop and leaning against the desk. "I guess not." Once again the blonde seemed to be making stereotypes. Just because Beca was born to a rich family didn't make her the way they were. She was kind, loving, but all everyone saw her as was the sarcastic, arrogant daughter of Tony Stark.

They thought she was exactly like him, but Beca didn't give anyone a reason to believe otherwise. Did she like the reputation it gave her? The power? No. Beca said she hated being compared to her father. It was her defense mechanism to act that way, to be the person everyone hated. They would stay away from her, and they wouldn't care what was happening in her life because of it.

She sighed, shaking her head and wondering how such a beautiful person could've turned into such a hidden, armored person. Of course, Chloe had kept several secrets herself. The media rarely got its hands on her, because if it did that would ruin her assignments as an assassin. The red head was practically born in secrecy, but Chloe didn't mind at all. Had her life been any different she wouldn't have met the confident DJ, and that was something she cherished.

"Is there anything I can do?" Aubrey asked, pulling the assassin from her thoughts. Chloe raised her eyebrow, noticing she and Aubrey had similarly colored eyes. Both a bright blue, much different than Beca's dark, steel blue eyes. Her every thought seemed to bring her back to the brunette, and every thought was a stab to her chest. "I don't think so, Aubrey." Chloe sat on her bed, not complaining as the blonde sat beside her. "My father always said it's hard to be away from the one you love, especially in times of battle.

"He also said thinking about what could possibly be happening to them if they were captured wasn't something you should put yourself through. It only brings nightmares and more pain to what you're already feeling. If it's any consolation, I want her back too, and we're all losing sleep over what could be happening to her. Yet, Benji's in the lab and Jesse has been fighting with Fury about sending missions out to find her. We're sitting here doing nothing. What does that say for us?"

Aubrey had a point, as much as Chloe didn't want to admit it. She'd been sitting in that dorm room for the past three weeks, wondering if Beca was all right or dead. Without the actual information, the red head decided she wouldn't know unless they got Beca back. The blonde was right. What was she doing? The others had done more for the billionaire than she had, and she was Beca's girlfriend. Unacceptable.

"Come on," Chloe stood, walking out of the dorm room briskly. Aubrey was right on her heels, and she could see the smile on the blonde's face from the corner of her eye. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she called Jesse. "Hello?" she heard, but there was no time for pleasantries. "Jesse, Aubrey and I are going to the lab to meet Benji. I'm not wasting anymore time. We're finding Beca today."

"I'm already in the conference room," the soldier replied, and Chloe could hear the smile in his voice. "I'll see you there." She hung up and swiped the key card into the elevator, looking over at Aubrey. "I'm done waiting." "So am I."

Glad they were finally in agreement, Chloe rushed through SHIELD's base, ignorant to the stares she received from other agents. When the doors finally opened to Beca's lab, Benji was at Beca's desk, working diligently through the piles of paper on the white table. Jesse was already there, standing in the corner. "Wait!" Benji yelled, earning glances from the other team members.

"Everyone go out of the room, and only one of you come in when I tell you!" Seeing their incredulous stares, he only smiled at them. "Trust me." Chloe nodded, walking out of the room first, having the blonde on her heels. Jesse followed them, and soon enough the boy called them back into the room one at a time.

"Okay, Chloe you're the last one, come back into the room." With hesitation, the assassin stepped across the doorway of the lab, hearing a laugh from Benji. "What?" she asked, walking completely into the room. "What's going on? Is it something good?" He nodded, pointing over at Riley.

"He was grey several seconds ago! Then you walked into the room and he started glowing red!" Of course! How hadn't she realized it before? How had she been so stupid? "Beca calls me Red," she mumbled, clearing her throat as she received stares from the others. "Beca calls me Red!" Benji laughed, throwing a cheer into the air. "He's trying to show you something! He can tell you where Beca is!"

Without a second thought Chloe walked to the sphere, stopping slightly as it's glow became brighter. A smile adorned her features, and she couldn't help the small laugh leaving her lips. "Wait a moment," Aubrey said, walking to the assassin's side. "Do you really believe this thing will show you where Beca is?"

Chloe looked back down to the sphere, still smiling as it's glow grew ever brighter. "Only one way to find out." She took the artifact in her hands, holding it gently. After a blink, she found herself in a building, steel walls all around. A scream came from her right, and with a quick turn of her head she found Beca curled on the floor, holding her chest with one arm while the other seemed entirely black with bruises.

Turning, the red head found herself face to face with a creature she'd never seen before. It was similar to the lizards she'd seen in the cave, but it was different. This thing was a snake, definitely not something she was used to seeing. Staggering back several steps, Chloe turned her gaze away from those yellow, slit eyes. They practically saw right through her, even though the assassin knew the creature couldn't hurt her. This was only a vision, and she was only visiting this place.

Another grunt of pain left Beca's throat, and Chloe couldn't help the way her body winced, as if the brunette's pain was her own. In a way, it was, three weeks had passed and who knows how many beatings her billionaire had received. Judging by the multiple bruises on her exposed skin, Chloe could estimate she'd been tortured very often.

"You'll be dead sssoon, Ssstark," the creature laughed, kicking her in the stomach before leaving the room. She knelt down to Beca's side, wishing so much that she could reach her hand out and push the strands of hair away from her face. Her breath rattled through her lips, and for a single moment Chloe's eyes met Beca's steel blues. "Chloe," the girl whispered, letting her head finally fall onto the metal floor. "Hurry."

She looked to the sphere in her hand, still seeing the familiar red glow. With a sigh the red head took one last glance at Beca, knowing very well it might be her last. "Show me where she is, Riley. Be as specific as you can." Darkness surrounded her, and for a moment the assassin had half a mind to drop the artifact and hope she would somehow end up back in the lab. Yet, they were in a room, a map of the United States hanging proudly on a wall.

There was one red pin in the map, in the middle of Georgia where there was nothing but forest. Frankly, it even looked like the pin was on a hill of some sort, away from civilization. Underground bases seemed to be a theme with these creatures, and not a good theme at that.

Considering how well their last mission had gone against these creatures, Chloe knew they'd have to be more careful than ever when rescuing Beca. "You're a genius, Riley," she looked down at the sphere, only to see the white floor of the lab under her feet.

A hand touched her shoulder, and the assassin turned to see Aubrey, her brow still raised. "Well, did you see anything?" Chloe couldn't help the smile she sent Jesse's way, and immediately she knew their leader understood. "I know where she is." Benji cheered, and even Aubrey had a smile on her face. Jesse pulled a cell phone from his pocket, and Chloe watched intently, wondering who exactly he could be calling.

"Stacie," well, that question was answered. "Get the helicopter fired up. We need it now. We know where Beca is." He immediately hung up after that, looking out at the team and walking towards them. "We're not leaving wherever this place is until we have Beca safe. Agreed?"

The entire team nodded, and Jesse held out his arm, his hand clenched in a fist. Chloe put her hand over his, looking over at Benji whose hand had joined her own. Last, but definitely not least, Aubrey's hand was over all of theirs. Not every hand was there, but it was all right, because for the first time in almost a month, they knew the team was going to assemble again. The next time they stood together, Beca would be with them. They were all going to be home.


	15. I Will Always Find You

Twenty-two days after Beca's capture.

Beca whimpered as yet another kick came to her abdomen, her entire three weeks had been full of torture, yet today seemed to be the worst of everything. This was one of the times Havak had completely free reign over her torment. He could break any bone in her body if it pleased him to do so. Frankly, it was quite possibly the worst day she'd spent imprisoned by these creatures.

Luke hadn't objected to the torture Havak inflicted on her. There'd been electrocutions, burns, beatings, and drownings. The brunette knew her body couldn't take much more, and was hoping for at least one more chance to see those beautiful blue eyes she'd grown to love. All she would need was one last glance at Chloe's smiling face before she was dragged into that peaceful darkness.

Several times she'd experienced death, mainly with the drowning portions of the torture Havak put her through. Twice she'd almost died, having too much water in her lungs to breathe. Seeing as drowning was considered the most painful way to die, which was entirely accurate in Beca's opinion, there were millions of places she would have rather been than being tortured by a weird snake creature. "Ssstop resssisssting and build our machine!" The creature yelled, yanking her up by the hair.

He bashed her head into the wall, bringing black to the edges of Beca's vision. If her head took any more damage than that Beca was certain she would black out, not knowing what Havak would do to her should that happen. It took all her strength, all her will to stay awake during Havak's torture. So many times her body wanted to just rest, to slip into that peaceful darkness. Yet, she forced herself to stay awake, to make sure she knew everything that happened to her. The billionaire found that much harder to do than any movie ever described it to be.

"Yeah, I don't really feel like it," Beca responded, smirking slightly as she leaned against the wall, letting the cool temperature from the metal sink into her skin. "You should probably ask again next week." It earned another punch to the face, only further hurting the bruise that had already forced her left eye to swell shut.

She would think things couldn't get worse, but that would of course be jinxing things, wouldn't it? Beca collapsed to the floor, curling up into a fetal position as Havak laughed. There was no point in trying to retain her pride. He'd already seen her weak, what more could he do? Havak broke her body, but her spirit was still there, she just had to be careful about when she decided to let that spirit be free. "There isss not much time left for you, Ssstark. Choossse your lassst momentsss carefully."

Havak left her be, and Beca was grateful for it. Curling up on the ground was the last thing she wanted to do, but seeing as the pain was becoming too much, the brunette didn't have much of a choice. Her entire abdomen was practically on fire. She was certain she had several broken ribs, not to mention a broken toe and the possibility that one of her arms was broken. Bruises could be found all over her body, no matter what area of skin was checked; there was definitely a black color there.

Claw marks could be found on her back, a particular favorite of Havak's. Each day he would create new gashes to bleed, each day hurting worse than before. Footsteps caught her ear, and as she attempted to sit up and move away, trying to avoid more torment to her body, a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder. Looking up out of her eye, Beca saw the familiar head of blonde hair.

"Ashley?" she asked, her voice hoarse from the lack of water she'd had for the past several days. The blonde hushed her, helping her lie back down on the ground. As much as Beca hated the fact Ashley was even in the place at all, it was nice for someone to take care of her. Though, given the choice, Beca would have Ashley back at Bellas practice any day. "Just try not to move too much, okay? There's not much I can do."

At this point Beca was certain the blonde had gotten used to seeing her in such a mess. They had limited medical supplies, especially since Havak very much enjoyed seeing the pain in her eyes. Ashley always did what she could, bandaging wounds and applying ointment, but that was about all she could do. Those broken bones couldn't be healed, they had no slings or casts of any sort, so the brunette had to deal with that pain on her own.

Of course, Ashley always apologized for not being able to completely help, but that wasn't what mattered. Ashley wasn't getting hurt as far as she knew. No new bruises sprouted on the blonde's skin as the weeks went by, and the billionaire was grateful for that. If Ashley was hurt it was something she'd never forgive herself for. The blonde's fingers pressed harshly into her arm, causing the girl to cry out.

"That arm's broken," Ashley mumbled, sighing slightly as Beca shook her head. "Thanks Dr. Obvious," the brunette retorted, bringing a small smile to the blonde's face. There had to be a way to keep the other girl calm. Ashley could quite possibly be hurt, and there wasn't anything Beca could do about it being so injured.

Havak walked back into the room, sighing and rolling his yellow eyes at the sigh before him. "I have been meaning to cut loossse endsss." With what seemed to be a smirk, the creature walked to Ashley, picking her up by the hair. She screamed, and Beca tried to get up and stop him. "Don't hurt her!" Yet, it was too late, a snapping sound filled the room as Ashley's limp body fell to the ground. The creature left the room, but it didn't stop Beca from screaming at him as he walked out.

She couldn't stay there any longer, but it wasn't exactly like she could escape the place on her own, the torture made sure of that. It wouldn't be long know, she knew that for a fact. They would come, and they would bring her home. If only they could bring Ashley with them.

Chloe rode in the helicopter, trying as hard as she could not to think of the brunette. What if she was dead? Would they really kill her in the short amount of time that had passed since Riley showed her clearly alive? It was doubtful, but still probable. Her foot tapped against the metal flooring of the helicopter as they flew through the air, certain they would get there soon.

Jesse was sitting beside her, and as the red head felt his hand on her knee she nodded to him. "I'm fine," she whispered softly, but the soldier shook his head. "You're not fine. None of us are. We're going to get her back, though. She's coming home." His words were comforting, like the true words of a leader. Fulfilling his role yet again, the assassin found confidence boosted to an incredible level as she nodded at him. "We're bringing her home."

The rest of the team agreed, nodding their heads in silence. Stacie landed the helicopter several hundred yards away from the location. It was in yet another system of caves, but this one seemed different. There was a metal flooring at the mouth of the cave, and it definitely wasn't a good sign. The assassin pulled a gun from her hip, pointing it in front of her.

She waited as the soldier pulled the shield from his back. "I'm coming in with you this time," the team was about to object to Benji's statement, but the boy only shook his head. "I'm not leaving Beca in there." Jesse sighed, shaking his head, but in the end he smiled. "Fine, just try not to get yourself hurt, okay Benji?"

"I won't be the one that gets hurt," his statement was true enough. Those creatures hurt Beca, and no one in the Avengers was getting hurt, not today. Chloe looked at Aubrey, whose fingers were clenched around the handle of her hammer and her knuckles were a pale white. They made brief eye contact, and the assassin received a curt nod from the blonde. This was a rescue mission, and everyone wanted the brunette home safely.

Jesse stood in front of them, his blue hood covering the top part of his face. Chloe'd never taken the time to truly appreciate the costume. The red, white, and blue coloring was still trademark to the soldier, and his shield was the same his father used before him, and it was still one of the strongest items in the world. "We're not leaving these caves until we bring her home, team. No splitting up. We stick together, and as soon as we find Beca we take her and get out. Agreed?"

"Agreed," their unison was something the team wasn't used to, but it took the loss of one team member to bring them together. Though, anything lost could be found. Chloe walked right behind their leader as he held his shield in front of him, protecting him from any incoming damage.

She and Benji were in the middle; the boy's breathing was deep and deliberate. He was obviously trying to remain calm in the situation. They didn't need his friend coming out and bringing the caves down on them. Her gun was pointed directly in front of her, ready for any attack.

Chloe jumped at the sound of growls from the inner workings of the cave. The muscles in Jesse's legs were tensed, ready for the incoming attack. "Chloe, shed some light." Pulling the flashlight from her waist, the red head shone the light in front of them, finding a lizard directly in front of them.

The creature bared it's teeth, rushing towards them with its claws ready to swipe. Jesse ran in front, bashing the thing in the face with his shield. It was sent crashing into the stone wall to their left, and they set off running. The team knew they didn't need to waste any time with walking. Beca was still in danger here, and they knew it all too well.

The sound of electricity flooded their ears, and lamps on either side of the corridor shone with bright light. The assassin put her flashlight back on her waist, sighing and relieving some of the tension from her shoulders. "Well, now they know we're here." More growls greeted them, but Chloe was done with the waiting, the not knowing. "Let's go."

She walked forward, fear seeming to take place in the very back of her mind with her pistol pointed directly in front of her. When a lizard crawled into her sight Chloe immediately fired, landing a bullet directly in the creature's skull. "Look out!" Aubrey's hammer flew by her, hitting several lizards in its path before returning to her hand. "I can't control lightning in a place like this. I'm at a disadvantage."

"We're all at a disadvantage," Jesse retorted, throwing his shield and watching several creatures fall into unconsciousness after being hit in the head with the circular metal object. "No more walking. Let's get to it." Running through the caves was not a fun time in Chloe's life. Creatures came jumping from every corner, trying to destroy them. Yet, somehow they managed to defeat them.

As they came to a fork in the hallways, the team debated which way to go. Of course they knew the decision had to be reached quickly. The three looked to Jesse, who pointed down the hallway to his left. Chloe knew if he chose the wrong hallway Beca could end up dead. It was a heavy responsibility to bear, but after the weeks without the brunette Chloe came to trust the soldier, and that trust was reciprocated.

"Avengersss!" a voice echoed through the hallways. Chloe tried to find where it was coming from, but her eyes couldn't seem to find the source. "You want Ssstark! Come and find her, foolsss!" The red head flinched, recognizing the voice. "Riley showed me that thing. It was hurting Beca." She saw the immediate anger in Jesse's eyes, and for the first time recognized how much he truly cared for the billionaire.

"If we find it we stop it, but our focus is Beca. We'll deal with that thing later. Besides, I think Beca might want to take the revenge for herself." A small laugh escaped her. Jesse was right. As soon as they got Beca back to her lab she'd rave about returning to give that creature its payback. They moved forward, finding more creatures in front of them. "Chloe, take 'em out!"

"With pleasure." The red head fired five shots, each hitting a lizard in the head. Seeing another down the hall, Chloe reloaded the pistol and sent another shot at it. This one was dodged, but Jesse was already in motion, running forward and tackling the thing into the wall, bashing its head with his fists until it fell unconscious. "Keep going."

Their fearless leader was becoming more ruthless with every turning of a corridor they walked down. It was beginning to look like an endless hunt. Was there even an end to these caves? Would they ever find Beca down here, or get lost themselves?

The brunette heard the commotion. Creatures were running by her room, and it only brought a smile to her face. They were here, and they were coming to get her. The team hadn't forgotten about her. Lizards walked into her room, attempting to pick her up off the floor. Yet, if there was something Beca hadn't forgotten how to do, it was put up a fight.

She used her good arm to punch one of the things in the face, but was shoved against the wall by the other in result. The girl kicked out, managing to land a blow to the lizard's stomach. It growled, turning her to expose her back. The brunette felt its claws tear her skin, reopening the old wounds created weeks before. Warm liquid fell down her spine, and her vision started to get blurry. Her one good eye was already failing her, but she wasn't going to give up.

Without hesitation Beca stood, keeping most of the weight off her bad leg. Her broken arm was held towards her chest, trying to also protect her broken ribs. Yet, all it took was a swipe of the thing's tail to get her back on the ground. The girl's leg was twisted beneath her, and she cried out in pain upon impact with the floor.

Prepared for the worst, Beca closed her eye. After several moments she opened it again to find the creature gone. They must've left to join the fighting. If her team was anything, it was strong. There couldn't be too much more time until they reached her.

Did they take a long turn? Were they losing the fight? She heard more creatures rushing by her door. Beca wanted to stand, to walk out of the room. Yet, as she put her hand against the cold floor the brunette slipped back down to the ground. She wasn't strong enough. The wounds had taken their toll on her body, and without her suit to guard her Beca knew she would be a sitting duck out in that fight.

Her eye slowly closed, and darkness surrounded her. She had no way of knowing what was happening. The girl's body was going numb from the pain, but every several seconds a wave of agony would wash over her again. Blood still trickled down her back, and if things didn't speed up she knew it wouldn't be long until she met her maker.

She wasn't ready. Though she'd never admit it, Beca was terrified of dying. The billionaire had already lost her mother so long ago, and since then hoped Pepper found peace, but there was no real way of knowing. There were no tests that could conclude there was a peace for her after death. Beca wasn't prepared for that.

That peace was interrupted as the girl was lifted from the ground. Her body fell against what was holding her up. She wasn't being shoved or hurt. The touch actually seemed gentle. With difficulty Beca opened her eye, only to be met by a beautiful pair of blue and a red head of hair. A sigh passed her lips, and the girl managed to pull her head up to the sight of her team.

Jesse was in uniform, holding his shield and standing next to the door. His lips were curled in a smile, and the girl could almost swear there were tears in his eyes. The same could be said for Benji and Aubrey. Though, the most important person was holding her safely. Her arms were wrapped around the girl's tiny frame, and Beca turned to look up at her.

"You found me," she smiled, letting tears fall out of her eye for the first time in weeks. Chloe's lips pressed against her forehead, and the brunette was pulled into a gentle hug. "Your math's never wrong."


	16. Rescue Mission Gone Wrong

Wrapped in Chloe's embrace it was the safest Beca ever felt. in the midst of all the chaos around them that warm feeling didn't fail. Jesse moved over to them, kneeling beside her. "Where are you hurt?" the care in his eyes was something completely unexpected. "Few cracked ribs, a broken arm, and my leg's in bad shape." Their leader sighed, taking her arm gently in his hand.

She winced at the contact, gritting her teeth together to keep from yelling out in pain. "Chloe, help her up." The brunette moved her arm to be around Chloe's shoulders as the red head stood. Her hand found a perch in the assassin's shoulders to keep from falling. Yet, as they stood Beca's leg almost gave way.

Somehow Chloe managed to keep her steady. "i've got you," her voice whispered delicately into the brunette's ear. Benji moved to be beside them, staying close to Beca in case she fell again. Putting her injured foot on the ground sent a spark of pain to her spine. They heard growls from further in the cave and sent a worried look to the billionaire. "Can you go faster?"

Beca nodded, and the soldier sighed. "Aubrey, stay on their back, I'll stick to the front. Keep Beca, Chloe, and Benji in the middle. We don't need any of them getting hurt." Talking about them as if they weren't there wasn't going to help the situation, but her sarcasm wouldn't either. Therefore, Beca kept her remarks to herself. Without any objections the team moved into the hallway, Jesse checking for lizards before turning the way they came.

With every step a new shock of pain was sent through her body, and as much as Beca wanted to be quiet an occasional whimper would leave her lips. It was quiet enough to the point where only Chloe heard, but with every painful sound leaving her mouth she felt the red head cringe beside her. It was as agonizing for her as it was for Chloe, and it wasn't a good sign.

Their pace was too slow, and Beca knew it could get one of them killed if they spend too much time down there. "I can move faster," Jesse nodded in front of her, picking up the pace. From the corner of her eye she saw the concerned look in Chloe's blue eyes, but it was unnecessary. The pain wasn't to the point where she couldn't walk, and there was no reason to act like it. As much as Beca hated the new pace they were walking, it was worth it if everyone made it out alive.

"Incoming!" Aubrey's voice came from behind them, and Beca turned her head to the blonde throwing her hammer, hitting several lizards in the head before it returning to her hand. "Time to go!" Against the protest of her leg, Beca ran to keep up with the others, her arm still around Chloe's shoulders. Jesse moved back to Aubrey's side, throwing his shield at the creatures and turning to them. "Go! We'll keep up with you!"

Benji's eyes widened as he shook his head. "What happened to not splitting up?" Though, Jesse didn't have time to respond as a creature tackled him into the wall. "Better not ask questions! Let's go!" The three moved down the hallway, letting the boy take the lead. Obviously he remembered which way they'd come through.

The weight on Chloe's shoulders only seemed to get heavier and heavier as they ran. Looking over to Beca, the brunette was obviously exhausted. Her eye still swollen shut, she looked like she was about to pass out. "Benji!" the red head called, stopping in her tracks and helping the girl lean against the wall. "She's going to fall down if we keep going like this."

"You do realize I'm standing right here," Chloe only rolled her eyes, but the boy nodded in agreement. "We should take a break. It's not like we should go too far away with Aubrey and Jesse still in there." The assassin couldn't disagree. If it were only her and Beca, they'd be out of the cave already, but there was more at stake than their relationship. Their friends were putting their lives on the line to bring the billionaire home, and that was worth so much more. "Just try to relax for now, Beca."

Though the brunette would never admit it, she looked exhausted. Beca leaned against the wall, her breath coming in short succession. Chloe took it upon herself to pat the girl's back, trying to calm her down. "Thanks," Beca muttered, and Chloe couldn't help the smile on her lips. "No problem. We don't want you dying down here."

"I can see why that'd be a problem," even in situations of pure terror Beca managed to find her humor. Hearing footsteps behind them, Chloe pulled her gun, immediately aiming at her eye level. "Whoa! Easy!" Jesse yelled, coming to a complete halt in front of the assassin. The red head only rolled her eyes at him, holding her gun by her side once more. "These things are right behind us we've got to go now!"

Chloe looked over to Beca, whose leg was in terrible shape. She could see the wounds in her arm, the way the bone seemed to be pushing against the skin. Her swollen eye looked worse than when they'd found her. The brunette nodded at her. She was about to disagree, but Aubrey came running to them. "There's more of them coming!"

Laughter echoed through the halls, but it wasn't human. This laughter was filled with a venom only one of them knew. The voice was rasped, and there was a lisp. "Come now, Avengersss. You mussst know you cannot essscape." Looking over at Beca, she saw the tension in her muscles. Her steel blue eyes were turned to the ground, and only when Chloe put a hand on her shoulder was the girl brought out of her thoughts.

The brunette met her eyes, and the fear in those steel blue hues was unforgettable. "Beca, do you know who that is?" The team looked over to her, and the billionaire gave a small nod of her head. "We need to move. Now." No one on the team had any hesitation. Chloe moved over to Beca, wrapping an arm around her waist and feeling one of the girl's arms around her shoulders.

"How far are you from the entrance?" Stacie's voice came from their ear pieces. Jesse sighed, walking in front of the group. He held his shield in front of them, looking at Beca. His eyes showed the worry he didn't let the rest of him convey. "We're almost there, Stacie. Get the first aid kit out. We need it."

"I- is she okay?" Stacie stuttered, and frankly it was a question all of them were wondering. The brunette wouldn't let herself show pain, but the team could see it. No matter how hard she pushed herself to get out of the cave Chloe saw how much pain she was in. The heavy rising and falling of her chest was the most obvious sign. "Just be ready for us."

Journeying through the cave was silent. Chloe couldn't help the sinking feeling in her stomach. Something wasn't right. Looking over at Beca, the assassin could tell the same idea was running through her mind. When they finally reached the mouth of the cave, Beca squinted her eyes at the bright light.

The girl hadn't been outside in weeks. It seemed like the sun was a completely new experience after such a long time in those caves. The brunette's arm was still over her shoulders. Their optimism for making it out was quickly crushed by hearing a hissing laughter behind them.

"Did you truly believe I would not find you?" the creature was the same Chloe saw hurting Beca. Her eyes narrowed, and slowly she used her free arm to grab her gun from her waist. "Thisss isss only the beginning of your sssuffering, Ssstark."

Lizards walked from behind the trees outside the cave's entrance. There were too many of them. "Enjoy your demissse." "Not today!" Looking over to Benji, Chloe saw the boy's skin stretch and its color changed to a vibrant green. His muscles grew larger and his hair darker. The Hulk yelled and ran outside to work, Jesse and Aubrey directly behind it.

"Chloe look out!" before Chloe could do anything she was pushed to the ground. The red head turned. Beca was in the snake creature's grip, and its fangs were piercing the skin of her neck. Faster than the blink of her eye, Chloe aimed her gun and fired.

The creature staggered away from Beca, holding its face with its hand. It glared at her. "You will pay!" Its left eye was bleeding, but Chloe didn't take time to admire her work. She fired again, hitting it in the shoulder before it ran back into the cave.

The assassin smirked, standing and crossing her arms over her chest. That was the end of that. Wait. Where was Beca? She frantically looked around, her eyes darting from corner to corner. The brunette had crumpled to the ground, a hand hovering over her neck where the wounds were.

Two puncture marks glistened with red blood. The skin around them was a sickly green and yellow color. Beca's breathing was shallow and fast. The assassin holstered her gun and held the girl in her arms. "What's happening? Talk to me. Stay with me."

Beca took Chloe's hand. Her weak grip brought tears to Chloe's eyes. She turned to the rest of the team, who were still fighting lizards in the forest. Surprisingly, the Hulk was the one to turn to them. His green eyes filled with worry as he looked to the brunette on the ground.

Lightning dropped from the sky onto several lizards, Aubrey at the center of the power source. She threw her hammer, hitting more of the lizards. The creatures quickly ran back into the forest. They fled, and only after each lizard was gone did the team rush back to Beca. Jesse saw the wounds on her neck, shaking his head and holding his shield in his arm.

"What happened?" he asked, looking over at Chloe. The Hulk stood behind Aubrey, shaking his head and roaring loudly. "That thing bit her, but I don't know what's going on. It was just a bite. She shouldn't be this weak." Chloe was frantic. Jesse kneeled beside the two, taking a look at the wound for himself. His cheeks turned a sickly shade of green, like he was about to be sick at the sight.

Their leader put a hand on Beca's shoulder, helping her sit up and staring directly into her eyes. Chloe knew he was avoiding looking at the wound. Even she had to admit the thing was ghastly. The yellow hue was only spreading to her shoulder. The girl's breathing rattled through her chest, and her hand trembled at her side.

Without thinking Chloe intertwined their fingers, receiving strange looks from Aubrey and Benji, but only a knowing nod from Jesse. Beca's blue eyes met her own. The pain in those blue orbs sent more tears to her eyes. The assassin didn't let them fall, but it was obvious she was worried about the billionaire. "Tell us what's wrong, Beca," the soldier said gently, keeping the girl steady. "What do we need to do?"

"Bite," Beca's voice shook from the effort, and with every word she spoke her cheeks became even paler. "Poisonous." She swallowed loudly, and fear crawled its way into Chloe's stomach. "Heart... paralyzed... three... hours." Jesse lifted the brunette from her place on the ground, rushing outside the cave with the team on his heels. Looking around, the red head saw Benji rather than the Hulk. Of course, he wasn't exactly wearing pants, but that was a problem for inside the helicopter.

She ran right beside Jesse, keeping a careful eye on the girl in his arms. "Stacie!" Their leader yelled. "Open the helicopter, we've got to get Beca back to Barden!" As soon as they ran into the back of the copter the door closed behind them, and a nervous Stacie looked back at the team. "What's going on?"

"A creature bit her!" Jesse hurried, quickly moving to lie beca down across a row of seats. He sat down in the row across from her and buckled himself in. "It's poisonous and her heart's going to be paralyzed in three hours." The rest of the team was already strapped in, and Beca's head was lying in Chloe's lap. It didn't take an explanation for the others. Chloe should've guessed their relationship could only stay a secret for so long.

Benji had a new outfit on, and the boy's eyes were trained on Beca. He was worried about her, but that could be said for anyone in the helicopter. "There's a reason we installed boosters on this thing!" Stacie yelled from the front. "You might want to hang onto something!"

Chloe was already strapped in. She made certain Beca wasn't going to fall before wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. The brunette opened her eyes, offering a weak smile to the assassin. "Hey," she heard the whisper, but only ran her fingers through Beca's hair. "Shh, just rest. We'll be there soon." "What happens if we're not there soon enough?"

Her eyes widened, and the assassin immediately shook her head. "Beca, that won't happen. We'll get there and you'll be fine. You'll get fixed up and you'll be fine." The brunette's hushed laughter didn't escape her, and only caused her to raise her eyebrow. "If only it were that simple." The girl's eyes began to close, and it took all Chloe's strength not to break into tears. "Hey, stay with me. Just keep your eyes open, okay?"

Beca nodded, but it wasn't as easy as it appeared. Within minutes the billionaire's eyes closed once again. Chloe put two fingers to her pulse point, barely feeling the drumming beneath her fingers. "She's alive, but barely. Stacie! Can this thing go any faster?" The tall brunette at the front of the aircraft sighed, shaking her head. "I'm already pushing its limits, but don't worry. I've got an idea."

She didn't hear another word from the agent piloting the vehicle. Chloe looked over at Jesse, who seemed to be just as worried about the brunette as she was. Looking down, there was the slightest rising and falling of Beca's chest. It was unmistakable. They were going to make it. Beca wasn't going to die. The mere thought of her dying sent painful images through her mind. What would her life be like if the billionaire was gone? What was she going to do if she never heard one of Beca's jokes again.

That wasn't about to happen. Things were going to be fine. If anything Beca was going to be back to her old sarcastic humor before the sun went down. Yet, with another glance down at the unconscious brunette in her lap, Chloe began to doubt her thoughts, and more importantly, herself.


	17. I Can't Lose You

It was after dark by the time they'd gotten back to Barden. An hour had gone by since Beca was bitten by the creature, and the brunette was still unconscious. After landing the helicopter, Stacie walked to the back, looking down at Beca. "Jesse, carry her inside. I called some people who're going to be able to help with the situation." The soldier nodded, too concerned about Beca to argue. In his arms she was smaller than she'd ever been before. She must've dropped under a hundred pounds while in captivity. Who knows when the last time she ate had been.

Looking down at her, she seemed to be in a kind of peace. Did Beca want to die? No. That wasn't an option he was going to let her consider. Jesse ran into school, letting Aubrey open the elevator doors and swipe her key card. Once they were down in SHIELD's base he felt every agent's gaze on him. Was this his fault? Had he been so stupid on their last mission to let Beca go inside with only Chloe? They shouldn't have split up, he knew that now, but blaming himself wouldn't do anything. She was back, and she needed his help.

"Bring her here!" he heard a yell, and turned his head to see a dark haired man with brown eyes. The light in the middle of his chest could only mean one thing. He was looking at Tony Stark, the man who helped create the girl he was holding in his arms. Jesse ran to him, and laid Beca on the gurney that was beside him. "Tell me what happened."

Seeing the look in Chloe's eyes made him skeptical to tell Tony anything, but after he was taken by the shoulders and shoved into the wall the genius' loyalty to his daughter seemed evident. "This is my daughter! If you don't tell me what's going on it'll only take up time I need to save her!" "Tony!" Jesse looked over his shoulder to see yet another red head, but this one was different. She wore a black jumpsuit and had a gun on her hip, and those eyes looked like they could pierce through your soul.

"Natasha," Tony said, moving to stand in front of the other woman. Jesse moved to be beside him, nodding his head curtly and politely at the legend in front of him. "All right, Rogers, what's going on?" He was in no position to refuse a lady. "Beca got bit by some creature and her heart's going to be paralyzed in two hours or less." The words were quick from his mouth, and the worry was quick in the former Avengers' eyes. "Look, I know we weren't exactly on the best terms."

The master assassin's brow rose at the statement, and Jesse couldn't help the small glimmer of humor in his eyes. "This is my daughter. I've been a crappy dad and this is my one chance to make sure my little girl gets to come home again." Natasha only nodded, looking at the unconscious brunette. "What do you need?" "For you to trust me. Kids, you're going to have to wait while we do this. It could take a while. Just go back to the conference room and wait."

"No way!" he looked over, watching Chloe move to stand at his side. "We're not just going to wait while she's in there!" "Chloe." Her mother stared the younger assassin in the eye, and when Chloe sighed Jesse took it as his queue to lead his team into the conference room. He turned his head, watching the two former Avengers pull the gurney into the infirmary before forcing himself to turn away again.

With a sigh the soldier sat himself down in a chair. He rubbed his forehead and looked up, seeing the other Avengers sitting down at the table. "What do we do?" Benji asked, his voice soft as his eyes met Jesse's. "Is she going to make it?"

"Of course she is!" Chloe yelled, slamming her fist on the table. "Why would you even think she won't! Beca's going to be fine!" Jesse wished he could agree with the assassin, but Benji had a point. If Beca didn't make it out of this alive the team would be devastated. What would they tell the world? Of course they'd be asking questions, and in the end the press would find out about the new Avengers Initiative.

What was he doing? How could he possibly thinking about the reaction of stupid reporters right now? One of his teammates was in danger of dying and this was how he was spending his time. No. It was wrong, and he knew it. Jesse stood from the table, beginning to pace in the back of the room. He ran a hand through his hair and looked over to his team. They were watching him with worried eyes, but there was nothing he could do to ease their pain. The soldier could give a speech about how Beca was going to be fine, but he didn't know for certain.

He wasn't about to just bring their hopes up when in the end someone they loved could die. Oh how he wanted to be in that room. There had to be something he could do rather than just waiting. With a sigh Jesse shook his head, leaning against the wall and holding his head in his hand. She could die, and he'd never get to apologize for being such a jerk to her. It was something he wanted more than he'd admit. It was in his code to apologize for things he'd done wrong, and in his opinion, something had been wrong.

"We're just waiting here," Aubrey said, making Jesse look up from the interesting spot on the metal floor to look at her. "How are we supposed to save the world when we can't even keep each other safe? I know I was awful to her but..." she didn't finish her sentence. Jesse walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The blonde looked up at him with fearful eyes, and looking out over his team he could see the same emotion he felt. Fear.

"It's all we can do right now," Jesse said, moving to be in front of his team. They stared back at him with tears in their eyes, and the soldier crossed his arms over his chest. "We're all scared for her, and we all want her to be safe and healthy. Right now we can't do anything for her, but Tony and Natasha can. We just have to trust that they know what they're doing. When Beca comes out of this we're all going to be there for her. We're the Avengers. We're a team. We're a family. Nothing's going to change that. Especially not a plan to destroy the world.

"The world's going to be safe. We're going to make sure of it. How do we do that? Well, honestly I don't know. We'll just have to make it up as we go. As stupid as it sounds it's what we'll have to do. We'll do it together. This family is stronger than any in the world. We may not be related by blood, but that doesn't matter, because we're all here and we all care about each other. That's what matters in a family. No one's left behind. Never again."

They nodded to him, and Jesse figured it worked. His father always said the right words can change the mood in a room, and obviously the old captain was right. He hadn't seen his father since he started living at Barden, but the teachings still followed him wherever he went. He made a note in his mind to thank his father later.

Without Beca the team would be heartbroken, especially Chloe. What would happen to the red head if the billionaire didn't make it out of the infirmary. He knew how much Chloe really cared about Beca, and frankly, he didn't think it was strange at all. Of course, the soldier knew others might judge them for their relationship, and perfectly understood why they wanted to keep it a secret from the rest of the team. At this point, Jesse was fairly certain Aubrey and Benji were getting an idea of the pair's real relationship. They weren't just roommates or friends. They were in love.

Love. It was something Jesse hadn't found yet, but he'd wanted to more than anything. Steve told him a story about love once, and how he'd almost had it. Yet, he'd sacrificed that love to save the lives of millions. Could he be that selfless? Well, Jesse didn't know, but he knew Beca was. The brunette gave herself to pain in order to save the woman she loved. That was selfless. Beca Stark wasn't a selfish person. She was a hero.

He looked over at Chloe, seeing the fear in her blue eyes. She was more worried about Beca than anyone in the room, and there wasn't anything Jesse could do or say to make it any less painful for her. There had to be a way to pass the time, to keep his team's mind off the pain that was possibly going on in the room just down the hall.

"I'm glad you guys made it to finals, even if it was because somebody else cheated" Jesse said, looking at Aubrey and Chloe. The blonde nodded, moving to stand beside the assassin. "Me too, but I'm starting to rethink our set list. It wasn't as good as I thought."

"You're right it wasn't!" a voice came from the doorway, and Jesse turned his head to see a large blonde. He'd seen her before, she was a Bella, but he didn't really know her name. "So this is where you Avengers meet up for special missions and stuff? Cool. When do I get invited?" Aubrey turned to look at her, crossing her arms over her chest. "You weren't invited down here in the first place. What are you doing here?"

The large blonde looked offended. "I invited her," Stacie walked in behind her, moving to stand at Jesse's side and look at all of them. "She is your sister, after all." Aubrey rolled her eyes at the statement, but the larger blonde only smirked. "Um, sorry to be rude," the soldier said, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't really know you're name."

"Oh, I'm Fat Amy!" The larger blonde was way too cheerful for the moment, and Jesse couldn't help but raise his eyebrow. "You call yourself-" "Don't ask." Aubrey cut him off, and a small laugh escaped him. He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged his shoulders. "All right then."

"I'm going home," Chloe said, earning a raised eyebrow from the rest of her team. "Just call me if anything changes." Before she could get any resistance from the others she stormed out of the room. Of course she knew it was a horrible thing to do, seeing as the others were as worried about the brunette as she was, but the red head couldn't stand being in that room anymore.

Beca was just down the hall and no one was letting her know what was going on. Was the brunette going to be all right? Or would there be that long speech about how she didn't make it? Whatever it was, Chloe didn't want to wait around in a conference room for hours to hear. It only took five minutes to get from her dorm to the conference room, and if anything was going to happen the team could call her.

That room was beginning to have a negative atmosphere, at least for her. Sure, since Fat Amy showed up the place started to show a little joy, but Chloe was still surrounded by people who reminded her where Beca was. She needed a piece of the brunette, something to remind her what the girl was like. There was nothing Chloe wanted more than to hold the girl in her arms again.

Slamming the door behind her, Chloe walked into her dorm room. Her bed was still a mess, seeing as she hadn't made it in the morning before going on the mission to save Beca. She'd held the brunette in her arms on the plane. She seemed so cold, so frail. That memory would never leave her alone. The red head never wanted to see Beca that way again, but knew in her line of work it was inevitable.

They were going to get hurt. Maybe that was why her mother had been so resistant against going into the Avengers Initiative. Of course the master assassin knew the dangers of the job, and had seen the kind of injury that Chloe was seeing today. Yet, somehow there was no excuse in Chloe's mind. She shouldn't have let Beca get hurt in the first place. She was her girlfriend, and in her mind she'd let her down. Obviously when Beca woke up the first thing she'd say was that it wasn't her fault at all, that was simply how Beca was.

The world saw her as a selfish, arrogant person who hoarded her technology and her mind away from them for herself. That wasn't her at all. She was the most beautiful person Chloe'd ever met. She was the kind of person who'd never admit it, but underneath the layers of her iron exterior she was a romantic. All she wanted was for someone to see through the walls her heart. Chloe knew Beca just needed someone to care about her, and she was willing to do anything to make the brunette see just how much she cared.

Beca was the person who swept the red head of her feet with a single action. She took Chloe's breath away with a single glance, and she hoped Beca felt the same way about her. The billionaire was perfect in her eyes, and no one could change her view. Nothing could stop the two of them from being together. Nothing.

A knock on the door drew the red head from her thoughts. Chloe walked over, opening the door and expecting to see Jesse standing there, waiting for an explanation. Instead, she found herself face to face with Aubrey. The blonde had followed her back to her dorm, but the glare Chloe expected to see wasn't there. Only concern shone in the blonde's blue eyes. With a sigh the assassin opened the door further, letting the Asgardian inside. It wasn't like she was just going to say no. They hadn't said a word, but it felt like they'd already had an entire conversation.

"You're seeing each other?" Aubrey asked, and Chloe could only nod. A small laugh filled the room. The red head raised her eyebrow, only to see Aubrey smiling and shrugging her shoulders. "I should've guessed earlier, I suppose. You and Beca always seemed to have that kind of relationship with each other. Too close to just be friends."

Red crept to the assassin's cheeks. Was it that obvious to everyone? Jesse'd guessed and now Aubrey too. Did Benji know? She sat down on the couch, shaking her head and holding it in her hands. She closed her eyes, letting darkness surround her. Chloe didn't need to see what was going on around her, there was too much pain. Knowing Beca could possibly die, and the thought of having to live without her was just to great.

If Beca was going to die then she would go with her, but a feeling around her shoulders drew her from her thoughts. The red head looked up to see Aubrey sitting next to her, the feeling around her shoulders was the blonde's arm. She was being comforted, for the first time since they'd heard about Beca's news she was the one being comforted. Beca needed it more than she did, and she had to be strong for the brunette.

Yet, there in her dorm room, where only she and Aubrey sat together in the dim light that came from the lamp, she was free to break down. Tears burned the borders at the corner of her eyes, and a wail erupted from her chest. Chloe covered her mouth with her hand, trying to drown the sounds she made, but the tears continued to flow. Aubrey's hand rubbed consoling circles on her shoulder, and the assassin found herself crumbling against her.

Luckily, Aubrey was strong, and she managed to hold the red head tightly as she cried. Looking around, the room was not what Aubrey suspected it to be. She expected the billionaire to be sloppy with her things, leaving them all over the floor. Somehow the room was in perfect order, and she wondered if Chloe had anything to do with it.

Now wasn't the time to be thinking about the room's order. The blonde looked down to the sobbing woman in her arms, whispering comforting words in her ear. "Beca's going to be okay. It's going to be fine." Tears still came, and sobs only became louder as time wore on. They sat there in that comfortable dorm room, with weeping being the only sound either could hear. Once Chloe's sobs had died down, Aubrey helped her lie down on the bed, still sitting with her and running a hand through the red head's hair as they stayed in comfortable silence.

The assassin sighed, rubbing her puffy eyes and looking up at her. "I can't lose her." It was the tiniest whisper, but it proved exactly how much Chloe cared for the billionaire. It stunned the blonde into silence. She looked down at the red head, trying to think of a reply, but the assassin already closed her eyes. She looked exhausted, and Aubrey wasn't going to keep her from much needed sleep.

"Neither can I," Aubrey whispered into the darkness, seeing Chloe already asleep. Without making a sound, the blonde slipped from the room, letting the gentle click of the door closing being the only sound she left behind.


	18. Love Finds A Way

If annoying beeping was what awaited her in the afterlife Beca wished she was alive. Wait, if she was dead, why was she in so much pain? This couldn't be right. Slowly the girl opened her eyes, only to close them again at the glaring light from the ceiling raining down on her. Beca sighed, lifting her arm to cover her eyes until she was ready to face the light. Looking around, she saw the EKG at her side, signaling her steady heartbeat. She wasn't dead? How was that possible? Havak's venom had to have been in her system for longer than she'd been passed out.

"You're awake," she heard, and the familiarity of the voice couldn't be denied, no matter how much Beca wanted to. "Tony?" The man walked in front of her, nodding his head and taking her hand gently. She shook her head, looking up at him with an arched brow. "What are you doing here?" "Gee, and here I was hoping for 'Hey Dad, thanks for saving my life'."

His sense of humor hadn't changed, and no matter how alike they were, she still found it very annoying. Like father like daughter. Wait, he'd saved her life? Beca felt her eyebrow rising further. "You saved me?" Her voice was soft. She didn't expect to be alive, much less to be rescued by her own father. He'd always had too much work to pay attention to her. This was what it took? Her almost dying to get his attention. "Yeah, I did. I'm just that good." Nice to see his narcissism hadn't changed. "Don't get a hero complex about it."

They laughed, but one question still bugged her mind. "What did you do to save me, Tony? That venom should've stopped my heart." "It would've..." He sat down on the edge of her infirmary bed, holding her hand more tightly in his hands. "You created a new design for the arc reactor, one that would last longer than my original creation." What was he saying? Was he saying what she thought he was saying? No. That was impossible. "I made one while you were away. I figured it could be the test for something you and I could do for Stark Industries, something huge.

"Then I got a call from your SHIELD agent Stacie. She told me everything that happened. You saved Chloe Barton and were captured for three weeks. Seriously, SHIELD let you be out of action for three weeks without telling me?" "I didn't need you to get involved, Tony. I was fine in there. I took one for the team. It's more than you did." She could feel herself getting angry with him. Tony was beating around the bush, and it wasn't like him at all. "What did you to do me?"

He sighed, shaking his head and putting a hand on her chest, but she didn't feel it, not one bit. Beca looked down, only to see a bright light shining through her clothes. "No. You didn't-" The brunette looked up at him, only to see the pain in her father's eyes. "This isn't real. I'm dreaming."

"You can keep telling yourself that all you like, Bec," oh how she hated it when he called her that, especially at a time like this. Her eyes narrowed, but he just kept talking. "Yes. There's an arc reactor in your chest right now. Without it you would be dead, and I wasn't about to lose my daughter. You're alive, and you're going to be alive for a long time."

Unbelievable. Beca shook her head, completely sitting up in the infirmary bed and glaring at him further. "What do you think this did, Tony? Do you think I'm just going to throw myself into your arms and call you Dad again?" When Tony flinched she could tell it was a low blow, but it didn't matter. "You think you can just waltz in here and save my life thinking everything's going to be fine when I wake up?

"Of course you do. You're Tony Stark, the arrogant CEO of Stark Industries who gave birth to a daughter just like him. Let me make this clear: I'm nothing like you. I will never be anything like you." The brunette pointed to the arc reactor in her chest. "This doesn't change anything."

Tony only glared at her, tears brimming the corners of his eyes. "So, you're saying you want to be dead right now? You'd rather die than have me save you?" Beca ripped the IV from her arm, standing to face him. They may not have been on the same eye level, but if looks could kill Tony would've been long gone. "You don't get to say what I think, Tony. I-"

"Would it kill you to call me dad?" The former Avenger yelled, but the girl didn't flinch. She was used to hearing him yell. He'd yell at Jarvis all the time, and there was nothing she could do to stop him, especially when he'd had alcohol earlier in the evening. "I am your father and you should start treating me like it!"

Her mouth was agape. She threw her hands into the air out of frustration. Beca shook her head. "You aren't my father, Tony. My father might've actually clapped me on the back when I was a kid and told me that I'd done a good job building a car engine by the time I was eight. You? No. You just point to your Ferrari and tell me to go build that engine.

"What did you do when I made my own suit? You decided to take it for a test run without my knowing and make sure I'd done everything right. Then you stole some of the design from my suit to make a new one for yourself! You took artillery designs from me and didn't even give me credit! I design an arc reactor for you at age twelve telling you that it'll help you live longer and what did you do?

"You just tossed my design to the side, telling me I was too young to mess with that kind of technology! Well, guess what, I kept working with the technology. Jarvis and I had it under wraps. This," Beca pointed to the arc reactor in her chest, scoffing at him. "is the third design for the arc reactor I had, and it turned out to be more powerful than Jarvis and I thought it could be. I was so ready to make you proud, but all you did was toss me to the side like an old blueprint."

Tony shook his head, moving to be closer to her and yelling. "I was always proud of you! I wasn't that great at showing it but I thought everything you did was amazing! You did more than I could ever do by the age of twelve! I only pushed you away because I didn't want you getting involved in what I do and needing an arc reactor like me!"

Beca sighed, shaking her head incredulously. "Now look where we're standing, Tony." "I wasn't going to let you die!" That was enough, all the memories were coming back to her, and tears burned the back of her eyes. "Like you let mom die!?"

The room was silent, and her breathing was heavy. She'd said it. For the first time in years she'd said it. Only when she looked to the side did she realize they weren't alone. Chloe stood in the doorway with the rest of the Avengers, including Fury, right behind her. Tony turned to look at them, before letting his eyes go back to Beca. "I didn't let her die."

"Then what would you call it?" She spat, wishing venom would spew from her words. "You took too long. They killed her and almost killed me." Beca sighed, shoving her hands into her pockets and letting a single tear fall down her cheek. "You want me to call you dad? I can't. I'm nothing like you." She walked past him, bumping her with her shoulder as she went. The brunette turned over her shoulder to look at him, shaking her head. "I hate you."

Only pain was written on Tony's face. His eyes followed his daughter as she stormed out into the hallway, no doubt going to the one place where she could really think. Chloe looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on. He'd just saved her life? Wasn't she supposed to be grateful? Wasn't this the part where the two would make up and go be a family again?

Beca told her how much she hated having the same reputation as her father, but they never talked about how much the girl disliked him. Maybe it wasn't her place to ask, but after seeing what went down there was no place she needed to be than beside her girlfriend. She looked to Jesse, and after the soldier gave her a nod the assassin ran after Beca.

She knew exactly where the brunette would go. It was the only place she could be alone, well, almost alone. They shared the room, and they'd done so since the beginning. Now was the time where Beca didn't have to be there for her like she'd done when the Bellas first discovered the red head had nodes. This was the moment Chloe could be there for her.

The billionaire seemed so pained when she stomped out of the infirmary, and though physically fine, she was definitely going through something. Chloe was going to be there the entire time, and as the assassin stepped into the elevator she couldn't bring her thoughts away from her girlfriend. They'd never really talked about their families, but something else bothered her. Beca lied to her.

Pepper left. That was the lie Beca told her. The truth was Pepper died, and she apparently died in the Stark household. How was that even possible? Could someone actually manage to get into the Stark house without being noticed by the security systems and Iron Man himself? She'd have to ask, because the red head needed answers. She wasn't going to stop until she got them.

Yet, she knew it wasn't the time to be angry. There had to be a good reason for Beca not telling her the truth. Maybe the girl was trying to protect herself from pain, but it seemed to follow her wherever she went. Misery loves company, at least that was how she'd heard the saying before. It seemed to be true, but what was more true? Misery seemed to love Beca as company.

Her entire life she'd been around the man who never appreciated her intelligence. Had she been exposed to the public she might've gotten more appreciation for her talents. No, her only experience with people was with an arrogant father. It was most likely where she'd gotten her personality from. As much as Chloe knew Beca would never admit it, the two were more alike than twins. Their sarcasm seemed to be the same, and their anger management was also in very bad shape. The assassin couldn't help but sigh as she reached the door to their dorm, but as she heard a crash from the inside, Chloe slammed the door open.

The billionaire threw her fist at the wall. Chloe saw the red blood staining the once creamed colored barrier. She ran to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around the girl's waist and pulling her away. Beca fought, yelling at her to let go. If there was one thing Chloe wouldn't do, it was let Beca go, not again. The brunette still fought, but since she was still weak from her time in captivity Chloe managed to subdue her, pulling her gently to the ground.

One of her arms remained firmly around the girl's waist, but as Beca moved her head to Chloe's shoulder she ran her fingers through the billionaire's brown locks. Wails were the only noise leaving her girlfriend's throat. The only thing Chloe could do was try to calm her down. "Shh, it's okay Beca." The red head murmured in her ear, placing a kiss to the top of her head. "It's me. You're okay. Just hold onto me."

Beca's hands grasped the front of her shirt as if her life depended on it. They stayed that way for well over an hour, Chloe still hushing her down. She hummed the tune of Titanium, and it seemed to bring the girl's rage down. The red head managed to hum through the song twelve times before the brunette's shoulders ceased their trembling. Looking down at her she saw Beca's eyes, their dark blue hue enhanced by the red irritation. "You okay?"

"Just peachy," there was a sad laugh, but Chloe didn't say anything about it. "Can you tell me what that was?" The girl sighed, moving out of her girlfriend's embrace to look at her. This was it. The truth was finally going to come out. How did she manage to keep it a secret from her for so long? The guilt was eating her inside.

"When I told you Pepper left I lied. She died. There was a blackout in the city, and some robbers decided it would be the perfect time to get into the Stark Penthouse. They got inside before the emergency back up generator came on to restore the electricity. Tony was down in his shop working while Mom and I were sleeping. I walked out of my room to get some water, but I heard her scream.

"I went to see what was going on, and-" she stopped, putting a hand over her mouth. The girl took a shaky breath before continuing. "One of them was beating her senselessly with a bat. I yelled for my dad, and managed to get down into his lab without one of them catching up to me. I hid under his desk while he took care of them in the suit.

"Once it was all over he came back to me, asking where mom was. I showed him and he just broke down. I already knew about death, so I knew she was gone."

She managed to meet Chloe's eyes, and her girlfriend's tears were already marring her perfect face. "I'm so sorry, Beca. Why didn't y-" "There's more." The red head raised her eyebrow, but Beca had to continue. If she didn't tell her now, there was no way she'd be able to do it later. "The note I told you about wasn't a complete lie.

"Mom was planning to leave Tony, but she wanted to bring me with her. We were supposed to leave the next day while he was at a business meeting for Stark Industries. Pepper said she wanted me to have a normal life. She wanted me to go to school and make friends. Tony always thought it was a bad idea because schools couldn't teach me what he could.

"Well, I found the note on the counter telling him about us leaving. I took it over to him and he lost it. I'm pretty sure he punched the ground enough times to where his knuckles were broken. She and I were supposed to live the perfect life together. It was just going to be me and her. Mom told me I'd get to see dad every once in a while. She still wanted him to be a part of my life, but she didn't want him to be the only other person in my life.

"After that things went south. Tony went back to work at Stark Industries. The morning after everything happened I woke up to find the house cleaner than it had been in years. He'd taken care of everything, even her body. I couldn't sleep the night before, so I'm pretty sure I looked like a wreck. He told me he was still going to the meeting and he'd be back in the afternoon.

"I'd spent plenty of time on my own before that. A lot of times Tony would take mom to meetings with him, but this was different. I didn't know what was going to happen if he went away again. That was the last time I called him dad. I begged him to stay, telling him not to go and to stay with me. All he did was shake his head and walk out the door.

Beca looked down at the light shining from her chest. The upside down triangle shape still managed to look the way Tony's did. Why was everything she did compared to Tony? Now even she was comparing herself to him. That couldn't happen. She wouldn't be like him. More tears spilled from her eyes at the thought. That stupid arc reactor was the final straw. The brunette shook her head, letting her eyes drop to the floor.

"I'm just like him," it was one little whisper, but it changed everything. In one moment the world didn't seem as bright, not even music seemed as peaceful as it used to be. "No." Chloe's voice sliced through her thoughts. "You are not you're father."

She only scoffed, shrugging her shoulders and throwing her hands into the air. "How am I not? I'm doing the exact same job and now look, I've got an arc reactor in my chest! I'm just a little remake of him and that's all I'm ever going to be!" Chloe's smile was soft and genuine, and Beca knew she shouldn't be so offended by it, but the irritation was only growing stronger.

Her girlfriend moved closer, sitting on her knees in front of her. "You want to know why you're not like Tony?" Beca didn't have to answer the question, Chloe continued without a response. "You saved me in those caves, Beca. You let yourself stay behind so I could get out safely. I didn't die. I know you want to see me happy, and letting you beat yourself up this way will make me anything but happy.

"You have to believe me Beca. You're not your father and you never will be. There's so many different things about you and him that you just don't see." "Like what?" Beca spat, she didn't mean to be so rude to her girlfriend, but everything was just coming out wrong. "Your eyes."

It wasn't the response Beca expected. She expected the red head to go into some long speech about how their humor and personalities were completely different, but it was completely opposite. Her physical appearance was taken into account. As vain as she would've originally thought, in the moment it was one little difference between her and the man she vowed she'd never become.

"They're so blue," Chloe moved her hand to her cheek, and immediately Beca felt herself sinking into the woman's touch. It had been so long since they'd been this close, over a month. "Sometimes I think they're the ocean. I could get lost swimming in your eyes. They're so beautiful. Just like you."

Beca heard the clink of Chloe's finger hitting her arc reactor. She didn't feel a thing, but looking down she saw the assassin's finger illuminated by her light. Looking back up into her girlfriend's eyes, Chloe shook her head. "That doesn't define you." Her finger moved to point over her real heart, the red head's finger coming in contact with skin and flesh, not machinery. Chloe's smile only grew wider. "This does."

She couldn't stand it anymore. All the tension had taken her energy away. The beatings she'd received from Havak and the pain her father caused her were too much. Tears fell from her eyes once again, and the brunette pulled Chloe in for the kiss of a lifetime. Her hands found their way to Chloe's neck and she pulled the woman closer. There was nothing she couldn't do without her red head. Nothing.

"I love you," Beca whispered against her lips, feeling Chloe's smile. "I love you too."

**A/N: I hate to be the bearer of bad news with a chapter like this, however I've come to a bit of a blockage with this story. You'll still get your ordinary update this Friday, but I have to make sure the story's going where it's meant to. Therefore, there won't be any chapter updates next week. I'll most likely be using that time to write more chapters, and I'll let you know when the story's going to be back on track. I'm hoping it won't take more than next week to get the things I need planned and written down, but like I said I'll let you know sooner rather than later. Happy reading!**


	19. Unfortunate Truth

Beca'd spent a lot of time in her lab, more time than she'd spent in the past. Two weeks she was unconscious while she arc reactor was already in her chest. Time was limited. The part of the machine she'd build was done, and the creatures were most likely preparing for their attack. She and Jarvis managed to get all the materials they needed from SHIELD and so far everything was going smoothly from there.

Weeks were spent in that lab perfecting every tiny detail. The artillery was updated, the repulsors were made stronger, and even the armor itself was upgraded. "Jarvis, we're ready for a test drive." "Are you certain, Beca? I distinctly remember you using four months before you were ready with your first suit?"

"Well, Jarvis this isn't my first suit. I'm absolutely certain it's ready. The last three weeks have been more stressful than ever. I need to get this thing done." She sighed, looking over at her greatest creation. It was something she could be proud of, and definitely something her father couldn't take away from her. No, this was something she'd created all on her own. Nothing would take that away from her.

The girl walked over to her suit, standing so her other machines could attach the specific parts to her body. The armor was lighter than her original, but stronger. It was mobile and ready to go. Nothing could stop her, especially not Fury or the other Avengers. She was taking this thing for a test flight.

She'd changed the symbol to an upside down triangle, matching the one in her chest. The one difference that affected her the most was the removal of the arc reactor. In her suits she originally had to place an arc reactor into the chest, but now she had her own. She and the suit were one. It was such a different feeling.

"It feels like a part of me," the brunette mused, flexing the fingers and looking around. "Hear me, Jarvis?" "Loud and clear. Beca? Are you still certain this is such a wise idea?" Beca only laughed, walking through a hidden door of her lab to a launch pad. "Relax, Jarvis, you're not the one actually doing something against the rules." "I suppose you're right."

Looking up, she watched the doors above the launch pad open to reveal the night sky. Tiny dots poked through the dark sky, like tiny fireflies lost in a sea of dark blue. The moon was full, making for an almost perfect evening. Beca sighed, contemplating if it was too late to go ask Chloe out on a dinner date of sorts. No. She couldn't do that tonight. The suit had to be ready in time for their next mission, and if it wasn't they were all screwed.

"Jarvis. Are the thrusters ready?" The thruster energy level appeared on her screen, and she nodded her approval. "All right, looks like we're ready to fly. Try to warn me if anyone's going to see us, okay Jarvis?" "With pleasure, Beca." She stood in silence, sighing and rolling her shoulders nervously. Hopefully this worked.

It only took a simple movement to start the thrusters, and Beca was flying through the air. The girl yelled a cheer as she moved farther and farther into the sky. Beca stopped to hover, seeing how the stationary thrusters worked. Everything seemed so simple. The controls were altered to suit the new arc reactor in her chest. The machine wasn't just an exterior piece of armor to keep her safe, it was a part of her, and she a part of it.

She was the piece that made the suit run, and without her the armor was useless. A great defense mechanism as well as completely life changing. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. "Let's see how fast this baby can go!" Before Jarvis even had a chance to dispute Beca pushed herself through the air, letting the thrusters take her on full power.

Buildings passed by in a blur, and the brunette couldn't help her laughter as she maneuvered her way through suburbs. Nothing separated her from the suit. She was Titanium, and the suit was merely another layer of skin. The sound of ringing entered her ears, and a call from Chloe appeared on her screen. The girl sighed as she moved higher in the sky, hovering before she answered the call.

"Hey babe," a smirk was on her face, and she heard Chloe's laughter through the phone. It wasn't like it should've been. The red head's laughter always brought a smile to her face, but her girlfriend's voice was thick with the promise of tears. "Chlo, what's wrong?" She landed on the roof of an office building, pacing back and forth and crossing her arms over her chest.

"We lost semi finals," Beca frowned, she hadn't been allowed to reenter the competition because of the arc reactor in her chest. Fury said the light would distract the other competitors, and the judges might disqualify the Bellas because of an 'unfair advantage'. Though she was a genius, her singing ability had nothing to do with her intelligence. As much as the girl tried to argue with Fury the decision had already been made, and Aubrey'd already told the Bellas she was no longer part of the group. "Wait a second, didn't you tell me at the Riff Off that 'it's just a stupid a cappella competition'?"

Chloe's sad laughter came through the other line once again, and the brunette immediately knew she'd said something wrong. "I was trying to calm you down so you didn't kill the guy! That's not my actual opinion." Beca rolled her eyes. Why were girlfriends so confusing? They'd say one thing and mean something else. Not that she'd had any girlfriends before, but Tony would bring women home on occasion only to complain about them the morning after.

She rolled her eyes, sighing slightly. "Oh, I guess I didn't realize that." "You're not as smart as you think you are." Chloe was obviously teasing her, and the brunette couldn't lie and say it didn't get on her nerves. "I doubt that. I know my IQ and it's probably double the size of yours."

"You don't mean that, do you, babe?" Beca only groaned, smiling slightly. "Of course not." Chloe laughed, and for the first time that night it seemed genuine. That laugh was like the jingling of a silver bell. It was a sound that brought Beca out of her trances and made her want to know what was going on. "Are you still in your lab?"

The billionaire laughed, looking around. "Not exactly." "Well, come back to the dorm, okay? I want to see you." Beca's grin grew wider. "When are you getting back, Chlo?" The red head laughed. "Fifteen minutes." The brunette cursed under her breath, shaking her head. "Look, I won't be back that early, but I'll be there as soon as I can okay. I love you."

"Love you too, come back safely from wherever you are." She could almost see the smirk on Chloe's face as she laughed. "I will. Catch you later." Immediately Beca began the journey home. Home. It was an interesting word. Ever since her mother's death she'd never considered the Stark penthouse to be her home. Yet, Chloe was waiting for her in the dorm. Wherever Chloe was would be her home.

Beca landed back at the launch pad and scurried into the lab, making sure no SHIELD agent saw her changing out of her suit. She held her arms out for the machine to take off the suit. "Need some help with that?" "AH!" The brunette jumped, looking over her shoulder to see Stacie. The machine had already finished removing her armor and all the girl was left in was a tight black jumpsuit.

"Surprisingly this isn't the most compromising position I've been found in," the agent just laughed. She walked over and Beca noticed her eyes wandering. "Somehow I don't doubt that." The tall brunette walked over to where the suit had been carefully placed standing up in a panel of the wall. "So this is what you've been working on these last few weeks."

The billionaire shrugged her shoulders, nodding her head. Stacie walked over, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm impressed. You built that so fast I'd swear you had super powers or something." Beca only scoffed. She shook her head. "I don't need superpowers. I have my mind." The agent nodded. "That's a pretty good power right there."

The girl nodded, pulling her shirt over her head. She put cargo pants on over the lower half of the suit and turned to Stacie. "Listen, I've got to get going." Stacie looked back at her. "Your father left." Beca rolled her eyes and nodded. "I'm aware."

Tony left without a word, not that Beca expected him to say anything. It wasn't unusual for her father to leave a note on the counter and disappear for several days. Yet, this time seemed different. The girl doubted she'd see her father for a while, and it wasn't exactly a disappointment. She didn't see him as her father and it was doubtful she ever would. Family wasn't a concept Beca was familiar with, but Chloe seemed to make it more relatable.

Beca left without another word to Stacie, the agent didn't seem to want more conversation and the brunette didn't have a problem with it. Walking back to the dorm was quiet, and it left time to her thoughts. The more she thought about what she said to Tony the more she felt guilty about it. She didn't hate him, it was just a strong disliking. Yet, with all the things they'd said to each other the girl wouldn't blame him for leaving.

Not only was the Stark family famous for their sarcastic wit and humor, but they're inability to face emotional problems head on. Beca never thought she had this problem, considering she was constantly in situations with Chloe where she was forced to make life changing decisions. Yet when it came to her father the brunette avoided the man as much as possible. After Pepper died the Stark family wasn't even a family. It was just a man and a girl with insane intelligence. There was nothing similar about them, at least she didn't want there to be.

She opened the door to find Chloe sitting at her laptop. The red head smiled as she looked through the countless folders of mixes on Beca's computer. The billionaire walked up behind her, placing a kiss to the top of her head. "Hey, Chlo." The assassin stood and pulled the girl into a hug. "You doing okay?"

The billionaire smiled as she felt her girlfriend's head resting on her shoulder. Her warm breath spilling out onto Beca's neck. She smiled and pulled Chloe into bed, wrapping her arms around the red head's waist. "I get that you're disappointed about semi finals, but it's just an a capella competition, babe. You're better than everyone in it anyway."

Chloe's laugh was barely audible, Beca had to strain herself to hear it. "I know, but it was something that made me feel normal. College is supposed to be about fresh starts and crap like that. Instead we're having to save the world like our parents did and everything. No one even knows. The Bellas were the one thing that felt normal. Without you there it wasn't as good as it used to be, and now that we won't be meeting it'll just be awful."

Her fingers ran slowly through her girlfriend's red locks. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm still here for you, Chlo, and you'll still see Aubrey. Since Amy's her sister you'll probably still see her. Life's never been normal for us. Why should it be now?"

"Well, I guess I should be grateful that my life is a little normal." The brunette's brow arched. Chloe moved to look up at her with only a grin on her lips. "Why's that?" Beca asked, but before she got an answer Chloe's lips were on hers. "Because I have an amazing girlfriend."

The brunette leaned forward, capturing the assassin's lips with her own. They perfectly molded together, like they were made for each other. Different aspects of their personalities made them absolutely compatible. Chloe knew how to calm her down and she knew how to treat Chloe in the best possible way. No one in the world could compare to her red head. No on in the universe either.

An irritated groan made its way from Beca's throat as the phone on the nearby table rang and interrupted their kissing. To her delight the assassin placed another kiss on her temple before moving to answer the phone. "Hello? Yeah what's- Oh. Are you sure you want her...? Yeah. On our way." That was certainly a quick phone call.

"What was that?" Beca asked, standing from her position on the couch and pulling her leather jacket over her shoulders. "I guess we have to go to the base, don't we?" Chloe nodded, taking the girl's hands in her own. Something was going on, and considering the way Chloe was acting it couldn't have been good. "Look, babe... Jesse and Aubrey found the snake creature that bit you in the cave while you were still... out. They just got it back to the base and want you to come down there."

"Let's go," it was time for some payback, but Chloe caught her by the arm and brought her back. "Beca, I know you-" "You don't know what I want right now, Chloe! Havak kept me down in a stupid chain of caves for weeks! I didn't eat! I barely slept! It was a living hell down there! He deserves the same!" She tried to escape her girlfriend's grip again, but the red head kept bringing her back.

"I know he deserves it, but that doesn't mean you should be the one to give it to him. You'll get your justice, but don't stoop down to that level to get it. You're better than him, babe. He had to torture you to get information out of you, and even then you beat him. You're smarter than him, Beca, now you just have to act like it."

Beca sighed, knowing her girlfriend was right. No matter how much she wanted to beat the living crap out of Havak for everything he did to her it wouldn't be worth it. If Havak died their chance for information went with him. "There's one more thing you need to know, babe." "What now?" She saw Chloe flinch. Of course she didn't mean to be that harsh, it just slipped out.

Chloe kissed her cheek, helping her calm down. No matter what the two went through they always seemed to come out on top of things. Which one of the two women was actually on top was a different question entirely. "It still thinks you're dead."


End file.
